A New World, A New Way
by zeusdemigod131
Summary: To protect his Pokemon from harm Arceus has moved most of his worlds pokemon, and most of the "worthy" "humans" to Equestria in hopes that they can live in peace, but peace is often harder to obtain than one might think, especially when the humans, or, former humans as it is, aren't all too happy with what he's done.
1. Pro-prologue

Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokèmon world, stood in his personal dimension watching his world, his pride and joy. To him it had always been one of the greatest accomplishments of the multiverse, and he had seen several. But that was before the humans had forgotten the old myths, before the Dragons, the guardians, had gone soft or feral, before a man named Lawrence of the Kanto region had kick started something terrible.

Arceus looked to the Johto region and saw Suicune, the embodiment of the northern winds, running from a trainer on a Rapidash.

Arceus looked to Snowpoint temple and saw Regigigas, one of his first creations, trapped as a statue, imprisoned by his own son's essences.

Arceus looked to the Unova region and saw Reshiram and Zekrom, the guardians of the region, in the pokèballs of N and Black, separated from each other by miles.

Arceus looked to the Hoenn Region and saw Regirock, Regice, and Registeel still imprisoned to keep them from their father.

Arceus looked once more upon the Unova region and saw Genesect, the newest (but not youngest) legendary hiding from the remainder of Team Plasma who still searched for him.

And a single thought rang in Arceus's head. "_Enough." _The god as old as time itself had lost patience. _"The normal Pokèmon do well enough, but my legendaries have suffered enough." _As of date only Reshiram, Zekrom, and Xerneas had been captured by trainers, the Fairy-Type's capture had been the final straw, but the rest were constantly tormented. This was especially true for the ones who roamed, such as Suicune and Latias, who were still being tracked by those thrice damned Pokètches.

If Arceus had his way then he would have made it clear to all humans that the legendaries were off limits. _"Probably would've destroyed everyone of those damned Pokèballs while I was at it." _He thought as he paced, eyes still glued to the multitude of screens flashing before him. _"Never once did I think the humans would be able to build something like those." _In truth Arceus would have rooted for Team Plasma in the final battle had he not known Ghetsis's plan from the get go.

"_But I can't do anything while I'm stuck here, and thanks to those sages all those years ago..." _Arceus paused as the memory of the ritual that had taken place thousands of years ago came back to him, filling him with rage. _"I STILL CAN'T LEAVE!"_

The screens before him shook and fizzled out temporarily as the Hyper Voice attack took effect before switching back on.

The event in question had taken place before any living human, and most living (and unliving) Pokèmon, had been born. Arceus had discovered that a small city state in the Hoenn region had been treating his Pokèmon not as partners, but as slaves

When the Alpha Pokèmon had discovered this he had freed the Pokèmon and moved them, along with a few good humans, out of the city, before completely obliterating it using Draco Meteor and Hyper Beam (there hadn't always been a desert in the middle of the region).

Most of the sages of his, and of the other legendaries temples had witnessed these events and attempted to reform the humans to treat Pokèmon as equals. But a few rebellious sages had decided that it was time for the god Pokèmon to leave humanity to it's own devices. Hiding their plans and thoughts with dark magic and disguising the ritual as an ordinary honoring of him they used the seventeen plates that linked him to the world to imprison Arceus in his pocket dimension.

Then the temples of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina had done likewise, though their spells tended to wear thin at times, and the Regi's sages as well as Jirachi's had done the same before the other legendaries had gone into hiding.

This had all happened so long ago, and many of the legendaries around today had never even seen Lord Arceus, outside of dreams that is. Arceus could enter the dreams of all beings, even while imprisoned.

The humans had trapped the four most powerful Pokèmon in existence so that they could do whatever they wanted. This had horrified Arceus and the others to no end for centuries, and without him to put the world right even worse events occurred.

First the Dragon Pokemon, the ones Arceus created to guard his Pokèmon, had gone feral or soft.

Hydreigon had gone from the most respected Pokèmon, to the most feared.

Kingdra became odd and moved permanently into the sea along with Dragalge.

Salamence, Garchomp and Druddigon, more often than not, abused their powers on the ones they were meant to guard.

And Goodra... Arceus actually had no idea what had happened to Goodra, it was still pure Dragon and still sought to guard the Pokèmon but it had somehow gone from fearsome to a laughing stock.

There were still a few Dragons that Arceus was proud of though. Aside from Goodra, Dragonite, Flygon and Altaria were still guardians, although they had gone somewhat soft.

Haxorus and Noivern had been the most unchanged across time and with the revival of Tyrantrum there was hope that the first non-legendary Dragon could set things right.

The next event was the creation of the accursed device known as the Pokèball. After making the universe and the creation trio Arceus had set his sights on creating life. He began by forming a single Pokèmon from his own DNA. Mew. And Mew, using her gifts and imagination, had created the Pokèmon. As time wore on Mew birthed more species and others developed naturally, giving rise to most of the species today.

But Mew, sweet, pure, Mew, felt that the world was missing something. A species that, given time, could grow and become something more than even Mew's boundless mind could come up with. And thus she birthed the Human race.

At first Arceus hadn't thought much of this new species, and when he first looked upon them he felt naught but pity. For in making the humans "more" as she put it, Mew had inadvertently removed the ability for them to interact with the forces of nature, but she had given them a mind unlike any other. At the time they were only comparable to Genesect, and that race had gone extinct alongside Tyrantrum and many others after a rather cataclysmic incident involving Kyogre and Groudon.

One thing Arceus did notice about the early humans was how cold and calculating their minds were. Expecting trouble from this he created Uxie, to grant them knowledge, Azelf, to give them Willpower, and Mesprit, to give them emotion.

These served the humans well at first and they did grow, much as Mew predicted. But over time they lost the ability to speak with the other Pokèmon and then began to separate themselves from them entirely. Fast forward several thousand years and they discovered Apricorns.

Arceus had no idea how the nuts had the ability to encapsulate Pokèmon. And Shaymin, the legendary tasked with maintaining the flora of the world, said it had to be something the humans did in their factories.

When Arceus saw the first 'trainer' capture a Pokèmon it is said that his screams of rage could be heard even from within his pocket dimension.

The battling didn't upset him, Pokèmon already did that, and Arceus understood that not all trainers were bad, in fact more than a few were wonderful beings, but just the thought of his Pokèmon forced into mobile cells was too much for the old god to bear.

To right this grievous wrong Arceus, with the help of Mew, created new Pokèmon that he hoped would dethrone humans. But Mew, still believing that the humans would come around, had drastically altered the Clefairy family from Arceus' design. And while the designs for the Beheeyem family had remained unaltered the Psychic-Type's intelligence and love of learning had overwritten the goal Arceus had set and they began to research the world much like the Pokèmon professors.

It took Arceus several decades to figure out how Pokèballs worked, and it truly terrified him.

Originally Arceus had assumed that they worked by honing in on the shared code of all Pokèmon, which was why they couldn't catch humans. What Arceus discovered was that instead of focusing on what _Pokèmon _had the Pokèballs focused on what _humans_ didn't. Meaning that the Pokèballs could be used to capture any creature that wasn't human. Even if they didn't share common DNA.

This discovery had led Arceus to make one last ditch attempt to... remove the humans. This time without Mew's help. Searching several universes for something he could use as a base Arceus discovered a world in which humans had been overthrown, but not completely exterminated, by robotic creatures similar to the Magnemite family. Unfortunately that group, alongside the Metang family, had existed for quite some time and wouldn't be to helpful in Arceus's plan.

So Arceus gathered his energy and created a new family of Pokèmon. The Klink family. Arceus had been so proud, Arceus had intended for this new group of Pokèmon to send the message to the humans that it was time to return to the old ways.

But, as was becoming usual, something had gone wrong. Without Mew to help shape the new species the Klink, Klang, and Klinklang had developed with a mind similar to... anything in the Pokèmon world couldn't compare. They were completely logical thinkers. No emotions whatsoever were found within their minds and they only sought to further their own standing in the world. In hoping to do this they realized that 1.) Attacking humans unprovoked would more than likely lead to their downfall. 2.) They had more to gain by working _with _humans rather than against them. And 3.) Once their goal was complete Arceus was no longer going to have need of them.

Arceus had _begged_ the lake trio, Mesprit especially, to alter their minds but the sisters had grown fond of humans and they were rather against Arceus's plans.

Thus ended Arceus's final attempt at stopping the humans and, in the few centuries since then, he had been angered on more than one occasion by humans meddling in his affairs.

His greatest anger had come in the form of the Porygon, Grimer and Trubbish families. Arceus had never even considered that humans could create their own Pokèmon, even by accident, but they again proved him wrong. While Arceus was mildly accepting of the Porygon family he was originally set on destroying the other two if he ever escaped. That was, until he saw how the humans treated their creations.

Having formed the Poison types from their own pollution the humans had been initially more horrified than Arceus at the new beings. This had set about a campaign to gather as many Grimer, Trubbish, Muk and Garbodor as possible and eradicate them.

Seeing the humans cruelty towards their own creations Arceus had frowned and said. _"Just when I thought they couldn't get any worse." _Arceus had then named both families, along with the Porygon family, Pokèmon in full and ordered the sacred swordsmen to escort the remaining Pokèmon to safety. After several years the humans also accepted the new Pokèmon and stopped the campaign.

However not all of the humans meddling in creation affairs were unwelcomed. When the first Aerodactyl was revived from a sample of DNA encased within ancient amber Arceus had been elated that his first creations could be revived, and soon Kabuto, Lileep, Carracosta and even Tyrantrum joined their modern day relatives... and Relicanth.

Two instances of genetic meddling had even resulted in new legendary Pokèmon being appointed. Mewtwo, after learning to control his powers and temper, had been inducted when Mew had asked Arceus to do so, claiming that he could help set the world on the right path. Seeing as how most Pokèdex entries claimed that the actually rather level headed psychic was the most savage Pokèmon in existence this plan didn't get very far.

And when Team Plasma revived and upgraded a the last member of the Genesect race Arceus had sent the Eon Duo to rescue the ancient bug and reintroduce him to the new world. While the ancient Genesect had been rather cold and calculating the revived specimen had been given a more advanced brain and was quite possibly the smartest legendary after Uxie. Not the wisest mind you, only the smartest. And after his training was complete Genesect had been inducted into the legendaries.

The last reason that Arceus was upset with the humans over was more of pet peeve rather than an enraging incident. At the time when Arceus was banished many humans, both male and female, shared happy lives with their Pokèmon partners, and that's partners in the. "Do you take this Gallade to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Sorta way. Arceus actually had no problems with this. He understood that love was love and that he couldn't mess with on the other hand, could, but she wasn't around yet.

What upset Arceus was that when humans reached a certain point of separation they decided that being in a romantic relationship with a Pokèmon was "unbecoming" which later changed to "disgusting" and eventually became "perverted".

When the law banning Pokèphilia was first passed it was seen as more of a suggestion, then it became extremely serious. Human trainers who fell in love with their partners were arrested and jailed for decades at a time, even if the Pokèmon could argue that it gave its consent.

This just sorta miffed most of the legendaries but one was extremely upset by the entire ordeal. Cresselia, the legendary with the greatest dealings in love immediately complained to Arceus about it and asked if there was anything he could do... actually she had been enraged that some humans were breaking up what could be true love and she had been screaming at him to fix it.

Being trapped in a pocket dimension meant that Arceus could do no such thing and all of Cresselia's attempts ended rather poorly.

The problem was that Arceus did not want to eradicate the humans, many of them were wonderful people, he just wanted his Pokèmon to live at peace... and for evil groups to stop trying to use the legendaries for evil every two decades or so.

He knew from experience that blaming the many for what the few have done only ends in pain and suffering on all sides. What Arceus truly hoped for was that one day he would be freed and that he could find a way for _all _humans and _all _Pokèmon to live together in harmony.

A man named Giovanni had pretty much smashed that hope several decades prior, and with humans becoming resourceful enough to capture some of the most powerful legendaries the only hope he had was that _he _would be able to set things right.

But for that to happen he would first have to escape, a goal nearly impossible without help from a human. This, in fact, was exactly what Arceus was contemplating as he watched over his world.

"_That Iris girl would be a good choice, if she can get a Haxorus, a Hydreigon and a Druddigon to trust her then perhaps she'd be willing to help me escape."_

Arceus had tried to convince humans to free him in the past but most had given up or decided that his contact with them had just been a dream.

"_Cynthia might also be a good choice and, while I don't like him very much, N would doubtlessly come to the rescue of a Pokèmon in need."_

For Arceus to be freed a human would have to gather all seventeen elemental plates, which had been scattered around the world, and undo the ritual in the place that it had first been enacted. Spear Pillar.

Arceus himself could no long view spear pillar or his plates, a byproduct of his imprisonment, and therefore had no idea what dangers awaited the heros he chose to go after the objects he required.

Arceus shook his head. _"It would be all to easy for-" _What happened next utterly shocked Arceus. He felt his prison come undone.

"_Impossible." _He whispered in disbelief, but contrary to his belief, the "door" of his pocket dimension slowly ground open.

"_Impossible." _He whispered again as he stepped through the door and came out on spear pillar. The god looked around in disbelief, seeing the world through his own eyes for the first time in millennia.

He was so taken back by his sudden freedom that he almost didn't notice the human standing on the shattered marble floor. Arceus only really took notice of him when the human yelled. "Blaziken, use Sky Uppercut!" But even after several thousand years Arceus' battle instincts never dulled. He used his connection to the elemental plated and pulled the Spooky Plate towards him, activating it a moment before the attack hit and rendering it useless.

The trainer looked on in shock as his Blaziken passed directly through the legendary Pokèmon. The Blaziken landed effortlessly behind the Alpha Pokèmon and looked back at his trainer. "Blaze?" He asked, worrying that they had bitten off more than they could chew.

The trainer, however, regained his composure and said. "No matter. I'll just have to change strategies. Use Overheat." Blaziken responded by focusing his inner flame to maximum power, then releasing it outwards and towards Arceus.

"_Typical Fire-Type move." _Arceus said as he switched to the Splash Plate to lessen the damage. _"Hit it with everything you have and hope it passes out."_

At this point Blaziken was seriously doubting that he could beat the legendary who had yet to attack a single time. The trainer still wouldn't believe that he could be beat, he had traveled the world and visited every region. He had some of the most powerful non-legendary Pokèmon on his belt. _"I'll just use another one." _He thought.

"Blaziken return." He held out the Pokèball and Blaziken disappeared in a flash of red light. He pulled another Pokèball from his belt and threw it. Calling out. "Dusknoir, I chose you!"

The Ghost-Type appeared in a flash of white light, prepared to take on the challenge, until he saw _who _he had been set against. "Noir.." He whispered nervously preparing for battle.

Arceus, however, was not in the mood for such a trivial matter. _"Enough." _He said, focusing his power and returning the Dusknoir to its Pokèball.

The trainers eyes widened and he stammered. "H-h-how?"

Arceus flew towards the trainer and only stopped when he was face to muzzle with him and could see the fear in his eyes. _"I created this world from nothingness, I am the archetype from which all Pokèmon are formed, I am directly responsible for the creation of the most powerful beings in the universe and I control all of space and time. If I couldn't manipulate your technology then I would be a sad god indeed."_

He backed away from the trainer, who was still attempting to keep a calm demeanor, and continued. _"Now normally for attacking a God I would trap you in the distortion world and leave you there."_

At this the trainer lost his calm demeanor and started to show fear. _"But..." _Arceus continued. _"Since you did free me I suppose I can let you off with a warning."_ Not wanting to deal with the trainer any further Arceus said. _"Be gone." _And the man disappeared, probably finding himself back at his home, or in a volcanic cavern.

Arceus smiled. _"Now then, let us begin." _At that point several things happened at once. First, more creation energy than had been seen for a thousand years was released, this energy was the cause of the rest of the incidents.

Three pocket dimensions reopened, truly releasing their occupants for the first time in millennia, three Pokèballs, two in Unova and one in Kalos, exploded outwards and released their occupants, three locked chambers in the Hoenn region also opened, and a crystal deep underground in the same region exploded outwards, in the Sinnoh region a statute's outer crust crumbled to dust and released the begin within.

Then, Spear Pillar, a long decrepit temple atop an ancient mountain, rebuilt itself in a matter of seconds, growing to its once former glory.

And finally, a call was sent out, a call that had not been heard since before Arceus's banishment, and one that had never before been sent at this magnitude. This call was for a meeting.

* * *

Arceus sat at the front of a very large, very long table that sat within one of the largest rooms in existence, waiting for the others to arrive. He wouldn't be waiting long.

In three almost simultaneous flashes of light the Creation Trio appeared. Giratina was the first to speak up._ "Greetings father."_ He said. _"It has been some time since our last meeting." _

Arceus smiled. _"Yes my sons, it most certainly has." _Arceus looked over the three and saw the shame in their eyes. _"And worry not, I know the events involving Team Galactic were beyond your control. And that you weren't in control of your bodies for most of the time."_

Dialga smiled, the god of times uncertainty melting away, and said. _"Thank you father." _

Palkia too was relieved that his father was so forgiving, and he would have voiced it, had another flash of light not interrupted his thought.

"_Dad!" _A small green blur shot towards Dialga and latched onto his face. _"I missed you." _Tears of joy fell from Celebi's eyes as she hugged her father for the first time in too long.

The God of time smiled and said. _"And I missed you Celly." _A single tear slid down his face. Arceus smiled and cleared his throat.

"_What about Grandpa? Don't I even get a hello?"_ Celebi smiled and greeted and hugged her grandfather before taking a seat next to her father.

Not a moment later another three flashes filled the room, this time fading to reveal Mew with Mewtwo, the Lake Trio, and Jirachi.

Arceus smiled and greeted his old friends kindly, but to Mewtwo he said. _"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mewtwo, you have done a truly wonderful job in the Kanto region."_

The Psychic-Type thanked Arceus and took his seat, rendered almost speechless by the praising. The next legendary to arrive flew in from the largest of the tunnels leading to the outside, his serpentine form coiling around the table. _"Rayquaza." _Arceus greeted the sky lord.

"_Arceus." _He greeted in kind.

Soon after four beings entered the room. _"Greeting Lord Arceus." _Cobalion greeted, bowing along with the other swordsmen. _"It is an honor to finally meet you."_

Arceus smiled again. _"Rise Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Keldeo, you bow to no one my swordsmen, for none have done more than you to protect the world in my absence."_

The four rose and took their seats as Latios and Latias entered the chamber, followed quickly by Deoxys and Landorus. Not long after that Ho-Oh, Lugia, and the legendary birds flew in accompanied by Tornadus and Thundurus.

Greetings were exchanged as Suicune, as well as her brothers entered the chamber, soon followed by all four Regis and Shaymin in her sky form.

Before long almost every legendary was present. Kyurem, Zekrom, and Reshiram having been the latest arrivals. Only two were still missing from the meeting, Darkrai and Yveltal.

"_Must we wait for them?" _Xerneas asked, perturbed that the Dark-Types, and the other half of the Mortality duo, were holding up the proceedings.

"_Yes Xerneas, I shall not begin until we are all present." _As soon as he said this the shadows in the room seemed to grow darker and converge at one point. Soon fading to reveal the two Dark-Types.

"_My apologies my lord." _Darkrai said as he floated to his seat. _"Yveltal had some...misgivings about attending this meeting so I took it upon myself to convince him otherwise."_

"_Good, good." _Arceus said as Yveltal took a seat at the end of the table near Xerneas. _"Now we can begin."_

"_I believe you know why I called you all here." _He began.

"_It has to do with the humans correct?" _Heatran asked.

"_Indeed, as many of you are aware," _His eyes darted to Reshiram, Zekrom, Xerneas, and Mewtwo. _"Some of you too aware, as of late the humans have been getting worse in their ways, even going as far as to capture we legendaries in their accursed Pokèballs"_

No one made eye contact with Reshiram, Zekrom or Xerneas as Arceus continued. _"Even so, I cannot bring myself to punish all humans for the crimes of the few and thusly...I have reached a dilemma."_

Several legendaries gasped at this, for Arceus always had a plan. _"I cannot leave the Pokèmon in harms nor can I allow things to continue as they are. And so, I look to you my legendaries...does anyone have any ideas?"_

For a moment, no one spoke, every Pokèmon in the room shocked into silence as Arceus admitted that he was in need of advice. And no one answered, until Mew broke the silence. _"Couldn't you just move the Pokèmon?" _

Everyone looked to her in confusion until Manaphy asked. _"Where to? There aren't any regions void of human life and if Groudon made a new one they would show up there soon enough. Plus we can't really move every Pokèmon on the planet to one region anyway."_

"_Yes, but Perhaps," _Mew said deviously. _"We wouldn't have to leave them on this planet."_ Whispers went up amongst the legendaries until Arceus asked the question on everyone's mind.

"_Mew...what are you suggesting?"_

"_What I'm suggesting, father, is that we move the Pokemon to an entirely new planet, I know they exist, Deoxys is proof enough for that." _The former space virus suddenly found every set of eyes in the room locked on him, he subconsciously shifted to defense form. Mew continued. _"And with you and the Creation Trio free, there's nothing stopping you from moving all the Pokèmon to a new home."_

Arceus thought for a second but Cresselia interrupted a plan brewing in his incomprehensibly vast mind. _"Or you could just turn all the humans into Pokèmon."_ That stopped his train of thought.

Darkrai, the other half of the Lunar Duo, rolled his eyes and said. _"And give people like Giovanni actual powers? Great idea."_

Cresselia glared at him and rebutted. _"Just make him a Caterpie or a Sewaddle, Bug types don't typically live that long."_

The pair continued to bicker until Hoopa spoke up. _"If you two lovebirds are going to argue could you at least do it in private?" _

The Mischief Pokèmon accentuated the last word just enough that everyone in the room fell silent again and a deep blush crept to the cheeks of both lunar Pokèmon.

"_Thank you Hoopa," _Arceus said. _"Now if I may continue," _He looked at Darkrai and Cresselia, who, sitting next to each other, had moved their chairs as far from each other as their other neighbor would allow, neither of whom were allowing very much. _"While I have...considered transformation to be a possibility, I believe that Mew's idea is the best course of action."_

"_Wait," _Uxie said in confusion. _"There are actually other worlds that could support the Pokèmon out there?"_

"_But I thought that you created everything dad." _Mesprit added.

"_Perhaps he made a backup world in case anything like this ever happened." _Azelf finished.

While he didn't say anything, a shiver ran down Rayquaza's spine, it always freaked him out when those three did that.

"_Never once did I say I created everything, I just said I created the entire universe." _Arceus stated.

"_But... the universe is everything... my lord." _Ho-Oh said.

"_No, it's just all of reality, that doesn't mean that there aren't other realities. Just look at Giratina, he rules over a reverse copy of the material plane."_

"_Lord Arceus?" _Virizion asked. _"What exactly are you talking about?"_

"_Alternate universes my dear. Worlds parallel to our own...and I think that is what I shall do, but I couldn't separate some of the humans from their partners. So I think that perhaps Cresselia's plan could also be put into effect, to a certain extent anyway."_

With most of the room still confused Genesect decided he would try to work out Arceus's plan. _"So let me get this straight," _He began. _"Your plan is to move the Pokèmon to another world that exists outside of this universe?"_

"_Yes." _Arceus answered. _"As well as some of the humans, but they themselves will have to become Pokèmon so not to cause too much trouble."_

Cresselia smiled as Arceus revealed his intent to use her plan, she had several humans whom she was currently watching, and making them Pokèmon would make their lives so much easier.

Some of the legendaries were still unsure of the logic behind Arceus's plan. Lugia, one of the sea lords decided to try and clear up part of it. _"If you plan to transform the humans into Pokèmon, why not just leave them all on Earth and change them all?"_ Arceus was all to happy to answer.

"_Originally that was one of my first plans, but Darkrai made a good point, and besides that, I do not intend to transfer all the Pokèmon to this new world, those Pokèballs only go so far in bending their prisoners will and they don't even do it at all if the trainer is a kind soul, some the Pokèmon members of these teams, Rocket, Galactic, Magma, and even some of the wild Pokemon have also strayed from the path of righteousness... I don't think I've ever actually used that word before but it's surprisingly accurate."_

"_Hang on a second," _Deoxys said, tapping a gelatinous finger on the table. _"Your plan is to move most of the Pokèmon of Earth, excluding the ones who, I'm guessing this council deem 'too far gone' or something like that, to a planet in an alternate universe, along with any humans that are deemed 'worthy' but those humans will be transformed into Pokemon so that they can live at peace with all the others?"_

"_That about sums it up, and the Lake Trio will be in charge of finding the right humans, patrons of all Psychic-Types and what not." _Arceus answered. _"Now, give me a few minutes and I'll find a desirable world."_

And with that, Arceus disappeared in a flash of light, leaving fifty-three of the most powerful Pokèmon in the world, most of whom were wondering what had just happened, to prepare for some kind of God level event. Uxie was the first to break the silence. _"Should, should we start looking for humans now? Or does he have some kind of step-by-step plan?"_

"_I'm beginning to wonder if he ever had a plan to begin with," _Palkia said in disbelief. _"Maybe he just created the universe and then just 'went with the flow' as the young people say."_

"_Is it possible that he went insane?" _Phione asked. _"Maybe all those years trapped alone drove him mad."_

Groudon shook his head. _"No, he acted like this even before he was locked away... I actually thought several thousand years in solitary confinement would make him act a little more sensical sometimes... boy was I wrong." _


	2. Prologue

Arceus was once again alone in his pocket dimension, the difference was that this time he wanted to be there, and that he knew five beings that could now enter the space at their leisure.

"_No humans this time... why do they appear in so many places in the multiverse anyway? So let's see... no, too many aliens there, won't be able to convince them all that we're not animals... only one human there but that world's too... crazy. How about... wait are we a video game there?... I'll have to talk to this Satoshi Tajiri later... I suppose a planet in that galaxy would be, wait... ok now that's just plain disturbing... this is a lot harder than I thought it would be you'd think I could just- Ah hah!"_

Arceus looked at the 'file' in his grasp. _"Peaceful, natural, already has multiple species but has enough space for the Pokèmon if they can live side by side, a few problems in some of the regions but I doubt I'll find anywhere that's perfect.'"_

Arceus smiled as he looked at the world he had chosen, an image of a golden city set on a mountainside, of a deep forest, needing a bit of order but fixable with some help, of a small village on the edge of the forest, where the inhabitants went about their business, unaware that one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse was watching them.

"_Equestria, here we come."_

* * *

In the land of Equestria, in the quiet town of Ponyville everypony was going about their daily business, the mayor was enroute to her office, the sofa clerk was selling his quills, three little fillies stood on the roof of Sugarcube Corner with parachutes that they got from Celestia knows where on their backs, the lord of chaos was having tea with his best friend in a small cottage on the edge of a forest. A normal day in the little rural town.

As on any normal day, many Ponies were in the market, shopping for supplies. One of these Ponies was the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, Twilight to her friends and to anyone she could convince not to call her princess. "Alright, that's parchment, quills, eggs..." Twilight Sparkle's Dragon assistant, Spike, checked items off an abnormally long check list as he read them aloud. "I think that's about it Twi."

"Good." She replied. "That means that we can-"

"Twilight! Spike!" Twilight and Spike suddenly found themselves tackled to the ground by a blurry pink shape, mysterious might have been an applicable descriptor as well, if they hadn't known _exactly _who had tackled them.

"Pinkie Pie..." Twilight sighed, staring at the mare who had tackled her. "What was that for?"

Pinkie Pie laughed. "I needed to get your attention sillies." She said as if it were obvious.

Twilight dusted herself off as she got up and sighed, she had become use to her friend's antics but sometimes Pinkie would still do something that she didn't understand. "Well you've got our attention Pinkie, what is it?"

Pinkie Pie developed a very serious look on her face and leaned close to her friends. "Come here." She whispered Twilight and Spike leaned in. "Closer." They were now only a few feet from Pinkie. "Closer." Pinkie was uncomfortably close and whispering in their ears.

"What is it?" Spike asked, fearing the worse.

Pinkie peered from side to side, wary of anypony listening to their conversation. Then, in her normal cheery voice asked. "What'cha doin?"

Spike sighed and face palmed while Twilight just laughed. "We're getting supplies Pinkie, what are you up to?"

"Not much," She replied. "I'm on my lunch break so I'm visiting everypony and talking to them, asking them about their day, warning them that my Pinkie sense had been acting up again."

"What?!" Twilight shouted in fear, the last time Pinkie's Pinkie sense had acted up she had been crushed by a piano, chased by a Hydra, and sent through her first rage shift since magic kindergarten.

"Yeah," Pinkie smiled happily. "Everypony seems to be having a normal day, well, normal for them at least, I suppose what's normal for Derpy and D-Time Turner probably wouldn't be normal for Roseluck or her sisters but-"

"No Pinkie, not that, your Pinkie sense has been acting up again?"

"Yeah, actually that reminds me. If you see me vibrating around town later could you tell me? Then I'll scream, **DOOZY!** Just like I meant to last time."

"Uh...sure," Twilight deadpanned. "But I probably won't be around tomorrow, it's reshelving day at the library and we'll both be busy," She scooped Spike up in her magic and placed him on her back. "Anyway, bye Pinkie!" Twilight galloped off, Spike clinging to her mane, and left Pinkie behind them waving.

"Bye Twilight, bye Spike." With that Pinkie Pie trotted back to Sugarcube Corner, she still had to bake a batch of 'Sorry the Cakes yelled at you and called your parents and big sisters and Rainbow Dash, they just didn't want you to get hurt' cupcakes for the crusaders.

Meanwhile, at Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle had just arrived and was unloading her saddlebags, while double locking the door and closing all the windows. "Ok Spike," She walked over to a supply closet and rifled through the various objects within. "You know the drill."

"Yes ma'am." Spike saluted and pulled a roll of bubble wrap, some duct tape, and a kitchen pot from the emergency drawer in the closet. Twilight came out a moment later wearing her 'emergency Pinkie' umbrella hat. "Twilight, do you think this town will ever be normal?" Spike asked as he wrapped himself in bubble wrap, laughing at the impossibility of his own question.

Twilight smiled and thought of everything that had happened to her since she came to Ponyville. Saving Luna, stopping Discord, reforming Discord, becoming a princess and, most important of all, meeting her friends. "I sure hope not."

* * *

The Hall of Legends is normally a stoic and serious place, imposing a sense of awe and order upon all who are allowed entry. That's because "normally" has been several millennia since any actual meetings had been held there and many of the current legendaries had never actually been there.

The fact that fifty-three of the most powerful beings in the universe were all within one room would make most people think that there would be discussions about the state of the world and tales of great deeds and while both of those did come up the conversations that arose were mostly old friends catching up with each other, jokes being told, and gossip being swapped.

"_I know it's obvious that they like each other." _Diancie whispered to Phione and Shaymin, who was still in her sky form. _"But Hoopa should know better than to tease them like that."_

"_If you say so." _Phione said, rolling her eyes. _"All I know is that he's never once asked her out on a real date, and maybe some public prodding will push them in the right direction."_

"_She does always talk about him whenever I visit her." _Shaymin said, considering the situation. _"And I think she has one of those little statues of him the humans make to ward off nightmares in her little grove."_

"_Awww." _Diancie couldn't help herself, she was always a sucker for a bit of romance.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the room the Mewtwo, Genesect and Deoxys were in a discussion about Arceus' decision. _"As long as it gets me as far from Giovanni as possible I'll be fine." _Mewtwo said with finality. _"Although, I have to admit that seeing him as a Caterpie would be rather amusing."_

"_I'm just wondering what this new world will be like." _Deoxys said. _"I've only ever seen this one and the moon. I hope it's not like the moon."_

"_Wait, did you not come from another planet?" _Genesect asked, hoping to gain some insight into his friend's origin.

Deoxys shook his head. _"I might have or I might have just been hurtling through space for a millennia, I was a virus at the time so I don't have any memories."_

The various conversations continued for quite some time, and could have gone on all night, had Arceus not reappeared at the front of the table. _"I believe I have found the perfect world."_

Everyone ceased their various activities and returned to their seats. _"What have you found my lord?" _Zapdos asked, excited to begin.

_"A world not so different from our own, a planet called Equus containing the lands of Equestria, Griffenhiem, Zebrica, and many others, all mostly peaceful. I believe that it is more than I could have asked for."_

"_Are there other beings?" _Keldeo inquired.

"_Yes, both sapient and non-sapient beings are abundant in this world, most of them have appearances similar to one Pokemon or another, and most of the non-sapients should be replaced quite easily by the other Pokèmon as time moves on, though some may prove to be a bit difficult." _Arceus wanted to answer all the questions to the best of his ability.

"_And the sapients? What are they like?" _Lugia asked, hoping for good news.

"_The majority are at peace with each other, and the world is in a much more natural state than this one thanks to that. Appearance wise they differ greatly but the majority are quite similar to Ponyta or young Keldeo here." _Arceus used his powers to project a picture of one of the ponies he had seen, a blue Pegasus mare with a rainbow mane.

Murmurs arose from the group as they considered these new beings but Arceus continued. _"They are called ponies, although other species include Griffins, Zebras, and... Dragons."_ This announcement caused an uproar from the gathered Pokemon.

"_How?"_

"_Outrage!"_

"_Impossible!"_

"_Silence!"_ The legendaries fell silent as Arceus silenced them with a single word. _"While I realize that this is a bit odd, Dragons that I didn't create? I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself, but it seems that they are few and far between, plus they don't have as much power as our Dragons and I doubt any of them would cause much trouble for us should they attempt to harm the other Pokemon."_

For a moment, no one said a word, then a voice like a rockslide spoke. _"What of the condition of the world itself?" _Regigigas asked.

"_Yesss," _Zygarde agreed. _"I would like to know, how isss the natural order of thisss world?"_

Arceus smiled, his two world guardians, still unchanged. _"Harmony is the predominant force but chaos has a hold in several places, although the avatar of chaos has actually turned towards harmony as of late."_

"_A being who represents chaos?" _Rayquaza asked. _"Is it going to be a problem?"_

"_I don't think so, from what I've discerned he is currently controlled by one of these ponies, and besides, if necessary I will take care of him myself."_

Celebi was the next to pose a question. _"Are there any more of these manifestations?"_

Arceus thought for a moment, then replied. _"Yes, two sisters who represent the sun and the moon, they rule one of the countries, Equestria, and are both more in tune with harmony." _Arceus smiled and continued. _"Harmony itself has six elements with physical forms, jewelry but still, they are loyalty, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and magic."_

Arceus paused, thinking, then finished. _"There was a being who represented shadow and darkness but he has recently been... obliterated."_

The hall was silent as everyone considered what to ask next. When no one spoke up Mewtwo decided to ask a question that had plagued his very existence when he was first born. _"Will we be accepted?"_

Arceus looked at Mewtwo and over the rest of the legendaries, the ones he wanted to protect more than anything, the only ones who he had known since before his imprisonment, his sons, his daughter, and, even when he wasn't related to them at all, the ones he considered his family. _"The citizens of Equus, and Equestria especially are rather accepting and friendly, for the most part, and, given time, I believe that they will accept us, probably faster than you might think."_

The Hall of Legends was silent, for a pregnant moment every legendary was silent as everyone considered the plan laid out before them. Some, such as the Creation Trio, the Lake Trio and Mew, had complete faith in their father, while some, like Yveltal and Kyurem, didn't completely trust the plan, still others, like Registeel and Moltres, simply didn't care one way or the other.

"_Well, lets get a move on!" _Mew said, causing shocked silence from some of the legendaries and quiet laughter from some of the others, Arceus himself was in the latter category.

"_Alright, first things first, we need to connect to the morphic field and locate all the Pokemon and...Pokemon to be, and then I can begin transferring and... transforming. My sons, my daughters, lend me your power, lend me your minds!"_

With that the elemental plates began to swirl around the Alpha Pokemon, strengthening his power while Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina began drawing power from their orbs to increase their own powers and then feeding their combined strengths into their father, strengthening his powers to new levels.

Mew also sent her powers over genetic manipulation to her father, allowing him to manipulate DNA wherever necessary.

While their siblings augmented their father's power the Lake Trio, the most powerful Psychics on the planet, strengthened his mind. Allowing him to stretch his consciousness around the world and wrap around the mind of every being, from this position of ultimate awareness and power, one he had not experienced since he first created his children, Arceus determined which humans and Pokemon were worthy to travel to the new world.

Needless to say, it was a lot, more Pokemon than humans but still, plenty on both sides. _"I'll leave the neutral humans as well, and some of the good ones who don't have Pokemon and wouldn't appreciate the change." _With these new criteria set Arceus started the process, first inducing sleep in the ones he was transferring, then transferring them, and finally, transforming the humans into Pokemon, ones that fit either their personality or, and this came up more often than one might have thought, fit their loved one's form.

"_Rest now my children," _He said gently. _"For when you awake a whole new world shall be your home."_

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Kalos region, several minutes before a universe altering event, a trainer and his partner were running through the woods.

"I understand *pant* them chasing us. But how *gasp* are there **two **Officer Jennies after us!?" The trainer panted.

"_I'm not sure but the Growlithe are currently apologizing profusely for the entire situation." _His partner explained.

"Well that's great, if you can convince them to **STOP CHASING US! **Then maybe we can actually get out of here!"

"You're not going anywhere criminal scum!" One of the Jennies shouted. "Nowhere except jail! Growlithe use Ember!"

"Groww..." Reluctantly the Fire-Type shot a blast of fire at the pair, it missed by a mile and hit a nearby tree.

"Alright that's it," The trainer said, turning towards his pursuers, his partner stopping next to him. "I've had enough of this." He straightened his hat and said. "Belle, use Psychic."

"_Yes Gene." _She said, stretching out her arm and loosing her psychic power in the direction of the officers. _"I apologize for this." _She said, more to the Pokemon than the officers.

The officers, and the Pokemon caught in the line of fire, passed out as the Gardevoir's mental power drove their minds into unconsciousness.

"Good work Belle," Gene said checking to make sure the sisters weren't physically harmed. "That should keep them out for a few hours at least." He patted the Growlithes on the head, feeling sorry that they had to suffer at all. "Now let's get Draco out and get the heck out of Kalo-"

Gene stopped mid-sentence as something suppressed his mind, much in the way Belle's Psychic had done to the Jennies. The same feeling fell over Belle, as well as a large portion of the Earth's populous and suddenly, all those beings found themselves fading from the world with no explanation save for a sentence that most would not remember when they woke up.

"_Rest now my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home."_


	3. Chapter 1

The Golden Oaks library is normally a place of order, a picture of serenity and peace. I say normally because 'normally' isn't every other Tuesday, otherwise known as reshelving day.

Twilight Sparkle stood in the center of the chaos, a smidgen of which would have made Discord proud, a day having passed since Pinkie Pie's visit. "Spike! Have you seen Fire and Ice: A Guide to Elemental Magic anywhere?" She shouted to the Dragon, currently rooting through a pile of books. He stuck his head out of the pile, a confused look on his face.

"Twilight, I can't find my own tail in this mess!" He crawled around in the pile a little more until he came out holding his tail in his hand. "Found it!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and continued to look at the plethora of books floating around her, eventually finding the correct book and placing it on its spot on the shelf. "One down, two thousan-"

"**DOOZY!"**

The sound of one of her friends screaming reverberated throughout the library, causing the Alicorn to lose her concentration and drop all of the books she was holding, several of which bounced off of her and Spike's heads. Normally Twilight would have rushed to see what was wrong, but after several stories had been told to her about doozies past Twilight had developed a contingency plan. "Spike get over here, we're taking a trip to Canterlot."

The little Dragon rushed over to Twilight and hopped on her back, Twilight prepared to activate a very powerful teleportation spell when another call went up from the same pony.

"**TWITCHY TAIL!"**

This was followed by a resounding crash and a flash of light that once again threw off Twilight's concentration, but not before loosing a teleportation spell that dropped her and Spike several hundred feet above the library.

"Aaaaaahh!"

"Aaaaaahh!"

The princess and her assistant screamed as they plummeted towards certain doom, or at least a strong possibility of doom, this was all completely irrelevant, of course, considering that Twilight remembered that she had wings before crashing into the ground. Twilight landed safely in front of the library, panting in fear.

"What happened!" Spike asked woozily.

"I don't know," Twilight said, using the breathing technique Cadence taught her to get her racing heart rate down. She looked towards town in the direction of the Sugarcube Corner. "But I bet I know somepony who does."

With that she galloped towards Sugarcube Corner, Spike clinging to her mane as she ran.

* * *

Gene woke up with the worst headache of his life, even worse than the time he had scared a Yanmega and gotten hit with a very powerful Supersonic. "OWWW!" He cried as he grabbed his head. "What happened?"

He opened his eyes and was temporarily blinded by the sudden sunlight. Once he regained his vision he smiled at the sight before him. Belle was asleep atop his chest, a small smile graced her face. His worries temporarily forgotten, Gene smiled and shifted his weight, trying to get comfortable.

This small motion awoke Belle from her sleep, her eyelids fluttered open. "Good morning beautiful." Gene said, smiling at his partner.

Belle had been the first Pokemon Gene had gotten after starting his journey in the Hoenn region, he had gotten her from the Mossdeep City gym, she had been with him as he traveled the Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh, Unova, and more recently Kalos regions. These were just a few of the reasons why Gene got confused when Belle grabbed him in a telekinetic grasp, yanked him into the air, and held him upside down, staring him in the eyes, and said with hatred in her voice. "You have five seconds to tell me where my trainer is before I start pulling the information from. Your. Mind."

Gene swallowed nervously, he had seen what Belle could do to someone's mind, that was one of the few times Belle had scared him in any way. "Belle?" He asked nervously. "Are you alright? Cause you're kinda scaring me."

The Gardevoir's eyes widened in shock and she dropped Gene on his head, where he landed on what felt like a spike, before falling on his back. "G-Gene?" Belle stuttered. "I-is that you?"

Gene pushed himself so he was sitting up and said. "Of course it's me," He repositioned the hat that, despite him having been held upside down and dropped on his head, remained on his head. "Who else would it b-"

At this point there were several things Gene could have noticed, from his location to his current...appearance, but what he did notice wasn't any of that. "Belle! You can talk! As in I actually _heard _you, without telepathy."

Belle stared at her partner, dumbstruck at his realization, and said. "Gene...I'm going to look in your mind because I need to figure out what happened to you." Her eyes started to glow bright blue as she mentally reached towards him.

"Wait what's wrong with me!? I mean I feel fi-" Gene paused when he felt the familiar presence of Belle entering his mind, only to withdraw a few seconds later. Her eyes stopped glowing as she returned to the confines of her mind having gathered the information she needed, and stared at the being she was now sure was her partner.

"Gene... I have _no_ idea how you haven't realized this but, you should_ really _look at your hands."

"Oook," Gene said, deciding to humor his partner. "I don't really see what that's gonna..." Gene trailed off as he looked at his hands, or what he was assuming were his hands. Instead of five digits as he was expecting he had three green fingers that were connected to an equally green arm that, instead of bending at the elbow and then continuing to his shoulder, went onward from the elbow in _two _directions, going on to his shoulder as it was suppose to, _and _jutting straight out at the elbow, coming to an end at a point like a sword. In addition his arm, or at least the part that wasn't a sword, was incredibly thin and the part that was a sword was just as wide and almost as flat as its actual counterpart.

Gene was normally a calm and collected individual, he had several Pokemon on his team that most other trainers wouldn't be able to catch in any of their forms, let alone train, and he had been through plenty of trouble on his journey. His journey had changed his life in so many ways, some good, some bad. But he had, physically at least, always been the same. So when he saw what had happened to his arms he was confused and shocked for the first time in quite awhile.

"Whaa?" He looked up and down his body seeing what else had changed, there were a lot more, and they were not small. The upper part of his torso was startlingly thin, with a pink triangle sticking out of his chest, which he suspected went through to the other side. While the lower half of his torso looked like an inflatable tube, in contrast to his upper body which was dark green, everything below his waist was stark white, including his feet, which were almost elephantine in appearance, and his legs which, until reaching where his ankle had been, remained mostly unchanged despite being white. "B-Belle?" He said. "What am I!?"

He jolted upright and patted down his head and face, already suspecting the answer. As he patted his head his suspicions were almost confirmed when he felt the helmet like growth covering his head, he also saw the very edge of it covering his face out of the corner of his eyes. He also felt two points sticking out of the corner of his face, where his ears used to be, (he assumed the sensory organs were behind them) and finally, feeling through his hat, the tall ridge jutting from the top of his head.

"Gene," Belle said, still in shock. "You're a Gallade."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Twilight Sparkle stood in Sugarcube Corner, the normally busy sweet shop was almost completely abandoned, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were upstairs with Pound and Pumpkin Cake, and the only occupants of the bakery itself were Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike, who was hiding under a table, clinging to one of the legs. "You have _no _idea what's going to happen?" Twilight asked her friend, who having been pulled away from baking her special doozy time cupcakes, still had flour on her apron and in her mane.

"Nope." Pinkie exclaimed happily.

"Not even a location?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"Nu uh." Pinkie replied.

"Uggh." Twilight banged her head on the counter out of frustration. "Just calm down, she's just being Pinkie." Twilight mumbled to herself. "OK," She said, turning back to her friend. "Do you at least know what crashed, or where?"

Pinkie smiled and replied. "Weell, I know it crashed in the Everfree, like beyond Zecora's house and the old castle,"

"Go on..." Twilight implored.

"And that whoever landed it is going to need a welcome party!" She finished.

"Uggh..." Twilight groaned again. _This is going to be a long day. _"Pinkie, I know this is hard for you but you have to tell me anything you can about whatever crashed."

"And the doozy." Pinkie corrected.

"What?" Twilight asked, confused.

"The doozy and the twitchy tail." She explained.

"Wait," Twilight held up a hoof to quiet her friend. "You mean that whatever crashed **wasn't **the doozy?!"

"Nope." Pinkie said, still smiling.

Twilight was at a loss for words, now she not only had to deal with whatever had crashed in the Everfree, she assumed it was a meteor but she wanted to make sure it wasn't some previously unknown force of evil or destruction, she also had to figure out what this doozy was, and she had a feeling that this time it wouldn't be her going through a rage shift and accepting more of Pinkie's nonsensical logic.

"Pinkie I need you to get Rainbow Dash and Rarity, I'll get Fluttershy and Applejack. We need to have a meeting...and I have to make sure Fluttershy isn't hiding under her bed," She ushered Pinkie out the door and pulled Spike from under the table, placing him next to her. "More than likely, I'll have to pull her out from under her bed."

"Okey, dokey, lokey." Pinkie said happily as she trotted through the seemingly abandoned town towards Carousel Boutique.

"Where is everypony?" Spike asked as he and Twilight walked towards Fluttershy's cottage.

"Probably hiding from Pinkie's doozy." Twilight said nonchalantly. "I just hope I can convince Fluttershy to come out."

"Yeah about that," Spike said. "What're you going to do when you and the others are all together?" He asked.

"What do you mean Spike?" Twilight asked as she continued to look for any sign of life in the town.

Spike paused, looking at the vacant town. "Well you don't have any idea what's actually happening and if whatever crashed in the Everfree is dangerous you don't have the elements to stop it," Noticing that Twilight had continued to walk Spike rushed to catch up with her. "Also shouldn't we send a letter to Princess Celestia, or Luna or anyone?"

"Don't worry Spike, we've handled plenty of problems without the elements," She looked in the direction of Canterlot, squinting to see the city. "And besides I think that that crash was probably heard in Canterlot and I bet the princesses will be here any minute."

* * *

Meanwhile in Canterlot.

"DISCORD YOU MONSTER! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY CAKE!" Princess Celestia burst from the kitchen searching for her prey. Unaware that the god of chaos, and her little sister, were hiding behind a nearby curtain.

"Do you think we went too far this time?" Luna asked, still snickering.

"Nah, old sun butt will calm down once she can't find us and raids the pantry instead," Discord said with a devious grin. "Now who wants cake?" He said, pulling out a beautifully decorated chocolate cake. "Come on, it's your favorite." He waved a piece in front of the lunar princess's face.

Luna smiled and took the cake. "Thank you...but don't you think we should at least look into that explosion?"

"Nah," Discord said, shoving a piece of cake, fork, plate and all, into his mouth. "Sounded like it came from the Everfree, that's Princess Twilight's territory."

To prove his point, Discord pulled down a large map of Equestria split into several sections, with a purple area labeled PTS stretching over Ponyville and the Everfree. One labeled Lulu covering the rest of equestria overlapping a section labeled Tia, the only difference was that Luna's had the word 'moon' in it, while Celestia's had the word 'sun' another section over the Crystal Empire was labeled 'candy girl and shiny' and the section covering Canterlot was labeled 'Discordtopia'.

Luna rolled her eyes at the map and continued. "Be that as it may, or may not, the guards say that half the city is hiding in their homes and-"

"HUH!" Discord gasped and grabbed Luna's face. "Why didn't you tell me! This is too important to miss!"

"Thank you, that's what I've...wait, miss what?"

"Miss the chance to take this little escapade out on the town!" Discord threw back the curtain and was wearing a tuxedo, top hat, monocle and holding a cane. "I can _never _go out without everyone screaming completely ruining the decor, and this," He gestured vaguely out the window. "Is the perfect opportunity for all of us to spend some time together outside the castle."

Discord threw open the closest window, changed into a sky diving outfit, and yelled. "Tia! Luna and I stole your cake, come and get it!" Before jumping out the window.

Luna watched as Discord fell several hundred feet before opening a parachute that read CMC's on the back, and landing in the gardens. "I still think we should-" Luna was suddenly interrupted when her sister ran into the hallway screaming.

"GIVE ME BACK MY CAKE!" With that Luna leaped out the window, unfurled her wings and glided down to the gardens, where she ran towards the now open gates saying.

"Sorry Twilight!"

* * *

Twilight and Spike arrived at Fluttershy's cottage and made their way to her front door. "Alright Spike, behind these doors is a room full of scared animals and a terrified Pegasus, I want you to get ready to comfort and soothe like you've never comforted and soothed before."

Twilight said, prepping him for what they were going to have to do. "Ready!" Spike said dutifully. Twilight nodded and opened the door, prepared for whatever was behind them. And screamed, Spike screamed too, but Twilight didn't hear him, Spike didn't hear her either, they both screamed and screamed at the sight behind the door. The skull like face, the glowing red eye behind that face, the wispy, grey body. They continued to scream until they needed to breathe, then the creature uttered a single phrase. "Duskull?" Rather quizzically and they started screaming again. This could have continued until Twilight and or Spike developed a sore throat, or fainted. But fortunately the odd floating being wasn't the only being home.

"Oh Duskull no, you shouldn't do that," A butter yellow Pegasus fluttered into view and gently nudged the floating skull out of view. "You could scare somepony or get hurt."

Fluttershy looked at her friends, feeling sorry that her new friend had scared them, and said. "Um, hi Twilight, hi Spike, what brings you here?"

Twilight, panting from fear, looked at her friend and said. "Fluttershy, what _was _that thing?!"

"Oh, that was just Duskull, my new pet. I found him this morning, after that big explosion when I went to check on all my animal friends and-"

"Wait," Twilight held up her hoof to stop her friend. "You found a creature with a skull face and a wispy body,"

"A ghost." Spike offered helpfully, earning him a glare from Twilight.

"And you let it into your house?!" Fluttershy pawed the ground sheepishly and said.

"Um...yes? I'm sorry he just looked so confused and scared and the others all-"

"Others?" Spike and Twilight said together.

"Um, yes," Fluttershy said. "Duskull wasn't the only little guy I found out there, in fact-"

"Cubone!" Fluttershy was cut off as a voice similar to that of a crying foal came from within the cottage.

"Oh no, I just got him to sleep!" Fluttershy zipped back into her cottage, allowing the confused Alicorn and Dragon to see into the room, their mouths both dropped open.

Fluttershy's cottage was normally filled with all manner of creatures, from Beavers to Bears and Dogs to Draconequus the mare was the place to go if you wanted any kind of pet, and Twilight was always prepared for whatever was going to be there. Of course she hadn't expected a floating skull to show up, nor had she expected something to crash in the Everfree, today was turning out to be a very abnormal day.

Inside Fluttershy's living room were a collection of creatures that looked like they came out of a foals video game. There was a pink cat-like creature sleeping on a window sill, its puffy tail was being batted at by an otter-like creature with a sea shell on its chest. A tiny beetle looking thing with a brown shell was crawling around on the floor near the coffee table which was occupied by not one, not two, but three brown and white fox like creatures and what looked like a blue lion cub with a star on its tail, a large red and green dragonfly flew around the room, occasionally pausing to hover near a group of yellow fluffy things on the ceiling. Fluttershy was at one of the pet beds, this one apparently meant for a very special pet, in the process of comforting a small brown creature with a skull on its head that was crying its eyes out, and scolding one of the only normal animals in the room, a bunny Twilight recognized as the miniature demon known as Angel.

"-and you couldn't give up one of your beds for a few hours so that Cubone could get some sleep!?" Angel waved his arms and hopped up and down, pointing at the various creatures and squeaking to prove his point. "Don't give me that mister," Fluttershy said sternly. "Now you go upstairs and think about what you've done," With that Angel grabbed one of his stuffed carrots and, shooting a poison glare at the little creature still crying in his bed, tromped upstairs. "And you're not allowed down until I say so!" Fluttershy shouted as the bunny passed out of sight.

Fluttershy turned back to the crying creature and started soothing it. "Oh don't cry Cubone, everything is going to be alright."

Twilight and Spike slowly walked to the center of the room awestruck at the plethora of odd creatures around the room. "Fluttershy," Twilight said staring at the various creatures. "What are these things?"

Fluttershy, still comforting the Cubone, which had finally stopped crying, barely looked up as she said. "Oh, these are some of the creatures I found in the woods when I went looking for my animal friends." She kissed the Cubone on its boney snout and placed it in the bed again, tucking it in and nuzzling it as it laid its head on the little pillow.

"Poor little guy, he just won't stop crying," As Fluttershy walked over to her friends several of the creatures scampered, or floated, or flew over to her and by the time she was in front of her friends she had a tiny otter clinging to her foreleg, a dragonfly sitting atop her head, wings buzzing infrequently, and the same ghostly skull floating in a wide circle around her head.

"Sorry about that, but ever since I found him Cubone has hardly stopped crying." Fluttershy explained.

"Fluttershy," Twilight said rubbing between her eyes and shaking her head. "What are these things? And why are there so many of them in your house?"

The dragonfly on Fluttershy's head buzzed irritably and Fluttershy patted it saying. "It's ok Yanma."

"Yan yan ma." It hummed looking at Twilight and Spike.

Fluttershy smiled and said. "Don't worry, they're really nice, I promise."

"Fluttershy..." Twilight said in practically a growl.

"Oh, s-sorry Twilight, they all just seem so scared and,"

"It's alright," Twilight said with a sigh. "Just please, can you tell me what these things are?"

"Well, I would but I don't actually know, I'm sorry." The little Pegasus looked down and pawed the ground again, ignoring the otter still clinging to her leg. Twilight stared at her friend in disbelief.

"You...don't know?" Fluttershy shook her head. "How can you," Twilight pointed a hoof at Fluttershy. "The mare who tamed a Manticore and befriended a Draconequus, not know what these animals are?!"

Fluttershy just eeped and said. "I'm sorry it's just, I've never seen anything like them before, I just call them what they keep saying but, that's either one name for all of them or it's the name for their species."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked.

"Well," She walked over to coffee table and nuzzled the little fox things.

"Vee."

"Vee."

"Vee."

They each said. "They keep saying Eevee, or part of it, so I just call them Eevee, and these little guys,"

She flew up to the congregation of tiny yellow things on the ceiling, the otter still clinging to her leg and the Duskull following her, she grabbed one of the tiny creatures and flew back down a few seconds later holding a tiny spider like thing, small enough to fit in the palm of her hoof. It looked up at Twilight with four electric blue eyes and said. "Joltik?" In a curious toned squeaky voice.

"Awww." Twilight cried, never having expected that she would think any kind of insect or arachnid was cute.

Fluttershy smiled and continued. "These little guys all say Joltik whenever they say something."

Twilight tore her eyes away from the Joltik and said. "Alright we'll ignore the admittedly adorable creatures around your house for now... I came to get you because, honestly, I have no idea what's going on, with the doozy and whatever crashed in the Everfree,"

"You mean t-those weren't the same thing?" Fluttershy asked in fear.

"Apparently not, and now that I'm here and I saw this," She gestured at the various creatures. "I have even less of a plan than when I came here, now we need to get going, we still have to get Applejack."

"W-what for?" Fluttershy asked.

"We're having a meeting about... whatever is going in." Twilight explained.

"Oh, ok, I just have to get someone from the kitchen." Fluttershy set the tiny spider on the wall, where it scampered to rejoin its group and trotted out of view, leaving Twilight and Spike alone with the various creatures. The little beetle-like thing crawled over to her and looked up at her with two black eyes atop its shell.

"Kabuto?" It said. Twilight slid it away with a hoof and it crawled off.

"Wait did she say someone?" Spike asked, realizing what had just been said.

Before Twilight could respond Fluttershy reentered the room, lacking the otter and dragonfly but retaining the Duskull, in addition, a tiny white creature with blue and red markings and a pointed, crown-like head sat atop her back. She was followed by a green creature comparable to a snake with arms and legs and a leaf like tail

"Ok Fluttershy, what are those? And why is that on your back?" Twilight asked eyeing the creatures.

"This," She answered motioning towards the snake thing. "Is Snivy,"

"Snivy." It said with a wave.

"And this little sweetie," She nuzzled the creature on her back. "Is Togepi."

"Toki, Toki, Pree!" It cried happily.

"Ok," Twilight said in an exasperated tone. "But why are they here?"

"Oh, Snivy's going to look after the place while I'm gone, I'd normally ask Angel but he's in trouble, and Snivy seems to be very responsible." Fluttershy explained, while Snivy developed a very snide expression. "And I just can't leave Togepi alone, I think she has separation anxiety, and until I can find her real family I can't leave her alone or she'll start bawling like when I found her."

"Fluttershy... I don't think it's a good idea to bring any of these, things, with. They might have something to do with everything that's going on." Twilight said as she looked at the tiny creature on Fluttershy's back.

"But Twilight, she gets so lonely... actually Cubone does too, maybe I should-"

"Fluttershy..." Twilight said. "We don't know anything about these things they could be danger-" Twilight stopped herself as several of the creatures looked at her with big CMC style eyes.

"Please Twilight," Fluttershy said with the same eyes as the creatures. "They're like foals, I can't leave those two-"

"Fine!" Twilight said. "Fine, just keep them out of trouble."

Fluttershy nodded and grabbed the still awake baby Cubone from his bed and placed him behind the Togepi on her back.

"Alright," Twilight sighed, "Let's go."

With that the three friends, and the two Pokemon, began the walk to Sweet Apple Acres. One of them reassuring the little ones on her back, who were slightly unsure after leaving the safety of her home. One of them still trying to work out the situation, and an actual plan to go with it, in her mind. And one of them wondering why something always went wrong on reshelving day.


	4. Chapter 2

"Gene you need to calm down!"

"Calm, right calm... I can't get calm!"

"Please sweetie, I promise everything is going to be alright, maybe Mage can do something."

"Well that'd be great, except that I have no idea where we are or where the rest of the team is!"

"Ok... I admit this is confusing, I mean you're a Pokémon, we have no idea where we are, and the others' Pokéballs are gone, but we've been in situations worse than this before, now please, lets just sit down and relax."

Gene took a few deep breaths and looked into Belle's eyes. The worry he saw there was enough to snap him back to reality. "Ok, ok." Gene leaned against a tree trunk and slid down it until he was sitting on the ground. "I'm calm, I. Am. Calm."

"Good," Belle said, kneeling down next to him. "Now then, let's deal with the problem at hand."

"Which one?" Gene asked.

Belle pursed her lips and said. "The one where you're a Gallade."

"Yeaah, I've got nothing, sorry."

Belle sighed and said. "That's obvious, but what are we going to do?"

Gene thought for a moment considering his options. "I think Iris might be the best chance...although Cynthia might have an idea or two, that old man in Shalour City might know something too but none of this is any help if we can't figure out where we are."

Belle nodded and sighed. "So, I guess we're back to plan A then."

"Yeah... wait, what's plan A?" Gene asked, looking up at his partner.

Belle smiled deviously and grabbed Gene's hand, pulling him to his feet as she stood up and pulling herself into Gene's arms. "This is plan A." She said snuggling closer to him, blushing slightly.

Gene was shocked at first, but after a few seconds he smiled and pulled Belle closer to him. The bridges of their helmets pressed together as they stared lovingly into each other's eyes. "I love you." Gene whispered.

Belle smiled, she had heard the words many times before but she never got tired of hearing him say it. "I love you too." Gene smiled and kissed Belle deeply, meeting her eager tongue as she forced her way into his mouth. This was far from the first time they had done this, and was far from the farthest they'd gone, but something was different this time. Possibly the fact that what they were doing was no longer considered illegal in most of the world.

When Gene finally broke the kiss to breathe he smiled, saying. "Well, it's good to see that _that _hasn't changed."

Belle wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easily. You're _my _mate, and a new body is not going to change that."

Gene smirked and kissed Belle again. "Well then," He leaned over Belle ballroom style, and said. "Why don't we take this body for a test ride before finding out what happened?"

Belle blushed deep red against her white skin. After a moment she smiled softly and said. "I think I'd like that." Gene smiled and leaned into a deep kiss from his mate, as he did this Gene felt his hat being lifted off of his head, revealing the large, blue fin that topped his helmet. "Gene," Belle said, breaking the kiss. "You know I love you no matter what but I gotta say, you look so handsome right now."

Gene smiled and kissed her again. "You know what? Maybe I'll consider keeping this body for a while," He pulled her closer to him, electing a small eep from his lover, and whispered in her ear. "Cause I can think of a few things we can do with it."

Belle's blush grew ever fiercer as her mate peppered her neck with kisses, she could only hold herself back for so much longer until she-

"What are they doing?" The pair heard a voice from the bushes whispering and, considering what was happening between them, reacted accordingly.

"AAHH!"

"Psychic!"

Very suddenly three shapes were thrown into the air and held there.

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

Belle and Gene stared at the creatures in the air and Gene, simultaneous with one of the creatures, said.

"What the heck are you?"

"What the hay are ya?"

* * *

In a clubhouse on a secluded part of Sweet Apple Acres three little fillies sat in their tree fort discussing their most recent... attempt, at getting their cutie marks, and the scoldings they got once they got home.

"Ah still don't see how we didn't get are cutie marks, ah thought we did everythin' right."

Sweetie Belle was the first to answer. "I don't think the problem was the execution so much as the idea itself."

Scootaloo, the one who had come up with the idea, looked at her friend quizzically. "What do ya mean?"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and explained. "I'm just saying, in hindsight, attempting to parachute off of Sugarcube Corner, in full view of everypony wasn't a really great idea. In fact, I don't think trying to parachute in general is a good idea."

"What?" Scootaloo said in disbelief. "Naah, we just have try to again..." She tapped her chin. "Maybe the barn this time."

Apple Bloom shook her head, seeing Sweetie Belle's logic. "Ya know what Scoots? Ah think that Sweetie here has-"

**"DOOZY!"**

All three fillies' eyes went wide as the sound of Pinkie's scream echoed across the fields. "Oh man, I gotta-" Sweetie started, she was interrupted however, when another cry went out.

**"TWITCHY TAIL!"**

Followed by a flash of light and a resounding crash.

"Aah!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders screamed and dove under the table at the side of the room.

"What was that?!"

"Ah don't know, sounded like a crash."

"What could cause a crash that big?"

"Maybe it was Discord? Or one of the Princesses?"

Apple Bloom squinted out the window. "Nope, sun's still in the sky."

Sweetie Belle face hoofed and mumbled. "That's not what I meant at all."

The conversation might have continued had a certain mare not interrupted them. "Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Are ya'll alright?!"

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo poked their heads out the window. "Yeah sis, we're fine."

A look of relief came across Applejack's face. "Good, now ah want you three ta come down here and then we're gonna go back to the house... and maybe the cellar."

"Aw come on Applejack," Scootaloo whined. "I wanna go see what happened."

"What!?" Sweetie Belle looked at her friend like she had lost her mind. "Are you crazy?"

"Ah'm gonna agree with Sweetie here Scoots," Applejack said as the fillies trotted down the gangplank. "What exactly are ya thinkin'?"

"I'm thinking that it's just Pinkie being Pinkie again," She explained. "I mean, when has one of her Pinkie senses ever hurt anypony?"

Apple Bloom stared at her friend and said. "How 'bout the time when it dropped a piano on Princess Twilight's head?"

"Or when it got me, Twilight, Pinkie, Spike, and Fluttershy chased by a Hydra?" Applejack added.

"Or when it got that load of pine sap dropped on Rarity?" Sweetie said.

"Oh, ah remember that," Applejack said chuckling. "She couldn't get her mane clean fer a month."

Apple Bloom smiled and remembered another example. "Or the time that it got Spike stuck in the old well?"

"Or when-" Sweetie started.

"Ok, ok," Scootaloo said, waving her hoof. "It was just an idea. I thought... never mind."

Applejack led the fillies back towards the farm, where Granny Smith and Big Macintosh were in the kitchen, Big Mac had a look of nervousness on his face and was being even quieter than usual, Granny Smith was... fast asleep in her rocking chair, not even the warning screams or crash could wake her from her nap.

Applejack left the fillies in the living room giving them explicit directions not to go anywhere, touch anything, or do anything. But the crusaders, or at least a headstrong little Pegasus, had only heard, go anywhere, touch anything, do anything. And responded accordingly.

"Come on girls," She said hopping off the couch. "We're going to investigate whatever crashed."

"You're jokin, right Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked hopefully.

"Are you kidding me? This could be our only chance to get our Cutie Marks in, in," Sudden inspiration hit the filly and she reared upright saying, just quietly enough not to be overheard. "UFO investigators!"

"Hang on a second, do UFO's even exist?" Sweetie asked.

"Well duh," Scootaloo said. "One just crashed in the Everfree."

"It's not a UFO!" Sweetie shouted. "It's probably just a meteor or something.

"Or the moon." Apple Bloom added.

"What?" Sweetie and Scootaloo asked together.

"We only know that Princess Celestia didn't drop the sun, maybe Princess Luna dropped the moon." Apple Bloom stated matter-of-factly.

"That's impossible!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Thank you." Sweetie was glad one of her friends was starting to show common sense.

"Princess Luna is way too awesome to drop the moon."

"Uggh." Or not.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo started arguing about the possibility of a celestial body falling in the Everfree, more accurately why Princess Luna wouldn't be the one to drop it.

"Girls!" Sweetie shouted. The pair stopped arguing and looked at their friend. "Ignoring everything else don't you think one of the princesses would have come around here if the moon did fall out of the sky?"

* * *

Meanwhile in Canterlot two princesses and a god of chaos sat inside one of the only open bakeries in the city, Pony Joe's Doughnut Emporium.

"Thank you Luna, Discord," She said, having just finished a doughnut cake they bought for her. "And I'm sorry for threatening to send you to the moon."

"Mmm." Luna grumbled.

"No problemo Celly." The Draconequus said. "Now come on, we have most of the city to ourselves and you know what that means!"

Celestia raised an eyelid and said. "No, what _does _that mean Discord?"

He smiled and said. "Shopping spree!" Before rushing out the door.

"... Shouldn't we stop him before he does something stupid?" Luna asked.

"Yes," Celestia said, sighing. "I suppose so."

Luna followed her sister out of the doughnut shop, teleporting some bits into the tip jar as she left. Once outside, the royal sisters quickly found Discord looting a souvenir shop, and he had gone all out in his looting, he had a miniature pirate ship parked outside, bobbing up and down in the pavement, and, once they got inside, they saw that he was sporting a pirate hat and dreadlocks, which were threaded with beads, there was a bandanna wrapped around his head and he was wearing a brown coat and a white undershirt.

"Ahoy me hearties," He said in an exaggerated accent. "What brings you fine ladies to this.." He gestured around the room, looking for the right word. "Place." And failing.

"Discord," Celestia said warningly, eyeing the loot sack over Discord's shoulder.

"Oh, fine." He snapped his fingers and the room went back to normal.

The pirate paraphernalia, instead of vanishing completely, appeared in the bedroom of a young colt in Ponyville, a smile appeared on his face and he whispered. "Thanks capt'n."

Back in Canterlot Discord, Luna and Celestia were on their way back to the palace. "I still think we should-" Luna never finished her sentence as she was interrupted by the rattling of a nearby trashcan.

"... What was that?" Discord asked.

"Probably a cat." Celestia said, walking over to the trash can and lifting the lid. "Come out little ki-"

Her eyes went wide as she stared at the creature inside, which, unless something was _really _wrong with nature, could _never_ be classified as a cat... or an animal. Discord and Luna peered into the trash can and gained the same dumbstruck expression as the solar princess.

"What is that thing?" Luna asked.

"It looks like something you'd make Discord." Celestia commented.

"Maybe if I had been smoking poison joke." The chaos lord replied, peering at the thing, which turned its misshapen head up at them and said.

"Trubbish?"

* * *

Scootaloo and the other crusaders stood at the threshold between Apple Bloom's house and Sweet Apple Acres. "Well, I'm going, and if you two are coming then you can follow me." She shouted before heading outside.

"Fine," Said Apple Bloom, sighing. "But only ta prove ta you that it ain't aliens."

She trotted after the Pegasus, leaving Sweetie Belle alone in the living room. She looked into the kitchen and only saw Granny Smith asleep in her rocking chair. "Why does the voice of reason always go unheard?" Sweetie said as she trotted after her friends.

After catching up with her friends, right in the middle of an argument about aliens Sweetie Belle sighed and thought. _We are going to get in so much trouble for this._As the trio walked in the direction of the Everfree.

"Exactly how far are we going to go?" Sweetie asked after they entered the part of the property that converged with the Everfree, forming a thin woodland rarely populated by anything larger than a rabbit.

"Until we find the UFO." Scootaloo said.

"Or until somepony finds us and brings us back." Apple Bloom added.

"Are we really going into the Everfree?" Sweetie asked nervously.

"Maybe," Scootaloo said. "If that's what it takes to get our cutie marks then-"

"Gallade."

"Gardevoir."

"What was that?" Apple Bloom whispered.

"Sounds like it came from over there." Scootaloo pointed towards a clump of bushes. "Come on."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom rushed over to the shrub while Sweetie walked over, once she arrived Apple Bloom pushed some of the branches so they could see whatever was in the clearing. What they saw took their breath away. To the fillies the creatures in the clearing looked vaguely like that Minotaur that came to town. But not really.

"What are they?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Aliens." Scootaloo whispered.

"Impossible," Sweetie said. "Th-they're probably just monsters from the Everfree."

"Then why are they kissin'?" Apple Bloom asked tilting her head in confusion. Just as Sweetie was about to stutter out an unintelligible response the creature's broke their embrace and began to speak to each other.

"Gallade, Gallade Gallade _Gal _Gallade Gallade."

"Gardevoir Gardevoir Gar Gardevoir. Gar _Gar _Gar Gardevoir Gar."

"What are they sayin'?" Apple Bloom asked, ignoring the creatures as they continued to talk.

"I don't know." Scootaloo said. "I don't speak alienese."

"They're _not_ aliens." Sweetie Belle said. "They're just monsters from the Everfree."

"Ya know, ah bet that's what a lot a Ponies said about Zecora before ah proved 'em wrong." Apple Bloom said, shooting a disapproving glare at her friend.

Sweetie Belle, with a guilty look on her face tried to take back what she said. "No I just meant, it's just that they're, I didn't-"

She was cut off when the creature wearing a dress pushed the other one against the tree in front of their bush. "Gar, Gardevoir Garde, Gar Gar Gardevoir."

"Gal Gal? Gallade Gallade Gallade Gal, Gallade Gal Gallade."

"What are they doing?" Scootaloo asked, her voice just above a whisper, the slight increase in volume, and the vicinity to the creatures alerted them to their presence.

"Gallade!"

"Garde!"

The trio suddenly found themselves being grabbed by what felt like a Unicorn's telekinetic grip and being held in the air in front of the creatures.

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

The creatures stared at the trio in confusion and Apple Bloom couldn't hold in her curiosity any longer.

"Gal Gallade?"

"What the hay are ya?"

* * *

Belle and Gene looked at the creatures squirming in the air. "What are they?" Belle whispered.

"I don't know, pre-evolution of Ponyta maybe?" Gene wagered comparing them to the only thing he could.

"Then why does that one have wings?" Belle asked.

"You freaky aliens better put us down right now or you'll be sorry!" Scootaloo shouted.

"...What?" Gene said.

"Just please let us go, ah p-promise we won't tell anypony 'bout ya." Apple Bloom was on the verge of tears.

"Gene, I don't think they understand us." Belle said. "Just look at them."

Gene took a closer look at the little... foals, he decided, and saw the fear in their eyes, although the little winged one, was trying to hide it. "But, if they can't understand us then,"

"They're not Pokemon." Belle finished.

"Wow... we are so lost right now." Gene said shaking his head.

"Girls... do you think they're gonna dissect us?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Ok that's enough." Gene said rubbing his hands together. "Belle can you set up the translator?"

She frowned, upset that her fun had been interrupted, but said. "Alright."

Gene noticed his partner's attitude and said. "Don't worry, when we're done here I promise," He whispered in her ear and whatever he said caused her to blush profusely.

Belle, still blushing from her lover's words, began to enter the fillies' minds, causing them to flinch and shriek in surprise, this, in turn alerted a Pegasus flying over head to their location.

"Hold on girls!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she shot into the clearing and rammed Belle.

"Ahh!" She cried as she was knocked to the ground, dropping the crusaders as her concentration faltered.

"Belle!" Gene cried as he rushed over to her side, kneeling next to her. "Are you alright?" He asked as he helped her sit up.

"Yeah." She said, rubbing the back of her head. "Whatever that was packs quite a punch." Gene glared at the blue pony who had struck Belle.

Rainbow Dash was ignoring them, busy comforting the crusaders, specifically the little Pegasus whom she was holding in her arms.

Gene cleared his throat to get her attention and, once she was looking at him, brandished his sword arms in her direction and said. "You really shouldn't have done that." And took a single step forward.

* * *

Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, and the two little Pokemon on her back, arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and were surprised when they found Applejack and Big Mac out bucking trees instead of hiding.

"Get down here ya no good filthy varmits!" Applejack shouted as she kicked the tree again.

"Applejack!" Twilight cried as she ran up to her friend. "I'm glad I found you, we have a... what are you doing?" Twilight noticed that the tree was barren of apples as was the one Big Mac was bucking, and most of the trees in the area.

"What does it look like ah'm doin'?" She asked, delivering another kick to the tree. "Ah'm tryin' ta clear out these pests before they destroy our entire crop."

"Fruit Bats again?" Twilight asked.

"Not exactly." Applejack said. With an exceptionally powerful kick the tree shook and an extremely large beetle fell out.

"Aaah!" Twilight screamed, again.

"Heracross!" It cried before opening the shell on its back and flying off.

"What was that thing?" Twilight asked, already suspecting the answer.

"No idea," Applejack said as she moved on to another tree. "Darn things just started showin' up, reckon this has somethin' ta do with Pinkie's doozy so they can't be anything good."

This time when she kicked the tree something fell out immediately, a black bug with a golden mask covering its face shot out and would have been missed entirely had it not paused to peer at the ponies before flying off, and a green creature with no arms, no legs, and, from what was visible, no mouth, fell to the ground with a thud.

"Metapod." It announced drearily, not even moving.

"Not again." Applejack said, tying one end of her lasso to it and shouting. "Mac, ah got another one of them pod things, ah'm gonna put it with the others and check on the girls."

"Applejack wait." Twilight said as she raced after her friend, Spike and Fluttershy following.

"Sorry Twi, ah can't really talk right now, got a bit of an emergency goin' on."

"I can see that, but we really need to figure out what's going on," She explained. "Especially what's with these creatures and what crashed in the Everfree."

"Well ah don't know what's up with the Everfree, but these critters," She pointed at the Metapod she was dragging behind her. "Ain't nothin but trouble, you have any idea how many of those things we've found on the propert-" For the first time Applejack noticed the Togepi and Cubone on Fluttershy's back, and she was none too happy about it.

"Shy," She said, a cold tone creeping into her voice. "What are those things?"

"Oh, this is Togepi and this is Cubone, they're my new pets."

Applejack shook her head and sighed. "Shy, ah don't think you should be keepin' those things, if they have somethin to do with whatever crashed... then they're probably not safe."

"W-what? No, they're perfectly safe, I mean, how could anything this cute and sweet be dangerous?"

She nuzzled the little Pokemon, eliciting a giggly response from both. "Cubone!"

"Togepi!"

Applejack just said. "That's what you said 'bout the parasprites."

Fluttershy fell silent and, while she didn't like it, Twilight had to agree with Applejack, these creatures' sudden appearance coinciding with the crash _couldn't _be a coincidence and, if it came to light that these things, cute they may be, were dangerous, then they would have to be rounded up and... Twilight hoped it didn't get to and.

As the group arrived at the barn Applejack opened the door and revealed the occupants, at least three more Metapods lay scattered around the room, and another two were somehow in the rafters, no less than five yellow limbless creatures covered in some kind of plated exoskeleton leaned against the wall and, in one of the corners near a window, a group of purple and white spiked balls sat piled atop each other in a pyramid.

"What are these things... doing here?" Twilight asked, deciding to get an answer other than 'I don't know' at the last second.

"Like ah said," Applejack explained. "We've been at this all day, and these things can't run off so we've been puttin' em here 'til we can figure out what ta do with 'em."

Applejack put the newest addition to the barn on top of a barrel near the door. "Now ah just have ta check on the girls and then ah gotta get back ta work"

"But Applejack," Twilight pleaded, following her friend. "We have to talk about this, I already called a meeting and everything."

"Look Twi," Applejack said, pushing open the door to her home. "Ah understand that ya want ta do somethin' but whenever Pinkie Pie is involved ah find that it's best just ta handle things at home, besides whatever crashed crashed in the Everfree so it ain't really are pro-"

Applejack stopped and looked around the room. "Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? Where ya at girls?" When no answer came Applejack groaned and ran upstairs, leaving Twilight and Spike alone in the living room

"Wait," Twilight said worriedly. "Where's Fluttershy?"

"Calm down Twilight, Fluttershy's back at the barn, she said she wanted to talk with whatever those things were." Spike explained.

Not a moment later Applejack ran back downstairs. "Ah can't find the girls." She said, worry in her voice. "Ah think they went after whatever crashed."

"What!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why would they do that?"

Applejack stared at her friend blankly. "Why do those fillies do anything?"

Twilight face-hoofed and said. "Cutie marks."

"Exactly, now come on, ah think ah know which way they're goin'." Applejack pushed past Twilight and ran out the door, Twilight picked Spike up and put him on her back before rushing after her.

Applejack ran towards the part of the farm where the Everfree met the orchard and was solely focused on finding her little sister and the others. She was so into her focus that she almost missed a familiar voice next to her asking. "Hey AJ, where's the fire?"

Applejack turned her head and saw Rainbow Dash flying next to her. "Not now Dash." She said. "We're in the middle of an emergency." She looked down and finished quietly. "The girls are missin'."

Dash's eyes went wide and she shouted. "What!?"

Applejack shook her head and said. "Ah think they went to investigate whatever crashed."

"That's why I'm here," Dash explained "Pinkie told me to meet Twilight here about that and then she went to get Rarity. I was heading to your place when I heard you running this way."

"Well ah'm glad yer here," Applejack explained. "Ah could use some help findin' the girls, ya think you could-"

"Say no more," Dash interrupted. "Search and rescue Dash is here!"

She flew off towards the Everfree, leaving the others behind, and started searching for the Scootaloo and the other crusaders.

She was searching for less than five minutes, skimming low over the tree tops, when she heard three shrill shrieks from just ahead of her and to her left. She altered her course and ducked into a small clearing where she saw two creatures standing in front of three little fillies who were being held in the air.

"Hold on girls!" She shouted as she dive bombed the one with its hand out stretched towards the fillies and knocked it in the back of its head.

"GAR!"

"Gal!"

Rainbow Dash ignored the creatures and grabbed Scootaloo, who immediately grabbed on to her big sister figure and was put through a mixture of comforting and scolding. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt! I'm so glad you're alright. Why would you worry me like that?"

"Eh hem." Rainbow Dash removed her attention from Scootaloo for a moment and turned back to the creatures and saw the more masculine one brandishing the blades on its arms towards her. "Gal Gallade." It took a single step forward. And was then hit with a blast of purple energy.

Gene's eyes went wide and he cried. "SHIT!" As he flew backwards and hit a tree.

Twilight Sparkle stepped out of the bushes with Spike on her back and Applejack behind her. "Stay away from them!"

Belle stood up and looked at her partner, who was lying unconscious on the ground, then turned her attention to the ponies and Dragon. Anger blossomed in her and her eyes glowed blue, she again stretched her arm towards the group, lifting Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack into the air, knocking Spike off of the Alcorn's back, and broadcasting her thoughts throughout the entire clearing. _"You're going to regret doing that." _

Twilight's jaw dropped open and she shouted. "You can talk!?" In surprise and confusion.

_"Yes, I can talk," _She spat. _"Now, quiet while I tear into your minds."_

"Wait, what?!" Rainbow shouted.

Belle pulled Rainbow Dash closer to her and stared right into her eyes. _"What did you think was going to happen?" _She pointed the floating ponies toward Gene's still unconscious body. _"You attacked me and my mate."_

"P-please." Twilight begged. "We didn't know you could talk."

"I thought the girls were in danger." Dash added.

Belle put Rainbow back with the others and looked over them. _"You swear you were just trying to protect your young?" _She asked.

"Technically they're not our kids but yeah." Twilight explained, Applejack and Rainbow shot glares at her.

Belle sighed and set the ponies back on the ground next to the cowering crusaders and baby Dragon. _"Apologies," _She said begrudgedly, walking over to Gene and placing a hand on his forehead, focusing her powers and pulling him back to consciousness. _"I was merely-Gahh!"_

Belle slammed into the tree as a powerful force rammed into her from behind. "That's for scarin' my sister and threatening my friends." Applejack said, standing over the now unconscious Gardevoir.

Unfortunately for the mare, not all the Pokemon were unconscious. Gene's eyes blinked open and he, seeing Applejack standing threateningly over his unconscious beloved, did what, in the medical world is known as, snapped.

_"GET AWAY FROM HER!" _He screamed, activating his mental powers for the first time. Applejack was suddenly shoved backwards by an immense amount of psychic force.

Gene stood himself up and stared hatefully towards the startled Earth Pony. Applejack, seeing how dire the situation was, attempted to run back to her friends. She was interrupted when Gene whispered. _"Stop." _And shot forward grabbing the mare and using one of his blades to pin her against a tree. _"Now then, give me one good reason why I shouldn't-"_

"Enough!" Gene and Applejack both turned to see Twilight's horn light up, then they were surrounded by a purple glow and lifted into the air. "Now that I have your attention," She turned towards Applejack and said. "First off, _you _don't attack ponies... or whatever they are, when they're explaining themselves." She turned towards Gene and said. "And _you. _Don't. Hurt. My. Friends. _Ever._ Do we understand each other?"

Applejack sighed and begrudgedly mumbled. "Yes."

Gene rolled his eyes and said. "Gallade." Having lost control of his powers as his anger faded. When the ponies started giving him odd looks he quickly nodded his affirmative.

"Good, now I'm going to put you down." She pointed one hoof towards Applejack. "You get over there and comfort your sister," She pointed to Gene. "And you get over there and check on your wife."

"We're not married." He said, knowing they wouldn't understand him anyway.

Twilight placed the Pony and the Pokemon on the ground and they ran over to their respective family members. Apple Bloom ran up to her sister and buried herself in a hug. Gene knelt down next to Belle and held her tenderly. "Are you alright?" He asked as he placed a hand on her cheek.

Belle's hand weakly grasped his and her eyes fluttered open. _"Now that you're here." _She whispered weakly, a small smile blooming in her face.

Gene smiled and pulled her closer. "Don't scare me like that."

Belle broke the embrace and pushed herself upright. "What happened?" She asked, looking around.

"The orange Ponyta thing kicked you." He explained. "But don't attack her, the purple one's apparently a Psychic, and really powerful at that."

Belle turned to the group and asked. "Do we know anything about them yet?" She looked around the clearing. "Or where we are?"

"Not yet," He answered. "But I think we should go find out." He pulled his partner to her feet and the two walked over to the ponies.

"That's close enough." Applejack said, glaring at them.

_"Well," _Belle said, expanding her psychic field over the entire group. _"She seems a bit high strung."_

"Hey!" Applejack shouted. Rainbow Dash snickered but stopped when her friend glared at her. "What do ya want anyway?"

"Applejack..." Twilight said warningly.

_"We just want to talk," _Gene explained. _"Maybe figure out what's going on if we can."_

"Oh thank Celestia." Twilight sighed. "Finally, somepony with an explanation."

She looked expectantly at the pair with a slightly off putting smile. _"Oh," _Gene stammered. _"Um, sorry to disappoint you miss..." _

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, at your service." She answered.

_"Well... Princess," _Gene continued. _"Sorry to disappoint you but we have no idea what's going on here. We don't even know where we are."_

"Ugggg." Twilight groaned, she thought she had finally found an answer. "Well can you at _least_ tell me who you are?" She looked over the beings in front of her. "Or what you are?"

_"I'm Belle," _She answered. _"A Gardevoir, and this handsome Gallade here." _She kissed Gene on the cheek. _"Is Gene."_

Twilight was about to ask another question but was interrupted when Applejack rudely asked. "Could ya'll stop doin' that? Ah don't like hearin' ya in my mind."

Gene and Belle looked at each other and smiled deviously.

"Sorry, is this better?" Gene asked. Which, to the ponies, came out as. "Gallade, Gal Gal Gallade?"

"Excuse me?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"You'd rather us talk. Well, we're talking." Belle explained. "Garde. Gar Gardevoir." Was what they heard.

"Huh?" Twilight was developing a slight twitch in her right eye.

_"You can't understand us when we talk." _Belle explained. _"Which is why we're communicating like this."_

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Twilight asked.

_"Because then we would've missed the looks on your faces." _Gene said, smiling.

Applejack just glared at the Pokemon. Tension rose in the clearing and an awkward silence fell between the groups. "Anyway," Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence. "What were you doing with the girls?" Suspicion creeping into her voice.

_"They interrupted-" _Belle stopped herself before she got any farther. _"I mean, we were trying to talk with them."_

"Wait, what were you saying before?" Applejack asked with suspicion.

_"That is between me and my mate." _She explained, accentuating the last word to get her point across. It worked. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight's eyes went wide and they all blushed.

Scootaloo had been quiet throughout the ordeal, partially from fear and partially from not wanting to draw attention to herself, finally she couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer. "What does she mean by that Dash?"

"Well Scoots you see... dangit you two!" She shouted at the Pokemon.

Gene shrugged and said. _"You asked."_

Twilight shook her head and sighed. "Ok, no more jokes and no more," She shivered. "_Personal _questions, I just want to know what's going on and where you two came from."

_"Ask away and I'll try to oblige." _Belle said.

"Alright, where did you come from?"

_"The Kalos region," _Gene said.

Twilight looked at them quizzically. "Where's that?"

Belle and Gene looked at each other. _"Umm, that's a bit difficult to answer. Where are we anyway? Hoenn? Sinnoh? Unova? Kanto? Oblivia maybe? It's definitely not Orre." _Gene asked.

Twilight stared blankly at them. "Equestria. We're in Equestria."

_"Where's that?" _Belle asked.

"I don't know how to answer that." Twilight said.

"Oh come on!" Rainbow shouted. "Where on Equus did you two come from?!"

_"Equus?" _Gene asked, confused. _"What's Equus?"_

"The planet is Equus and... oh Celestia." Twilight's eyes went wide as a realization hit her. "You two aren't from this planet."

_"Oh Arceus!" _Gene cried. _"You mean we're not on Earth anymore? How is that even possible?"_

"Told you it was aliens!" Scootaloo gloated.

"How can you not know how ya got here?" Applejack asked, still suspicious of the Pokemon. "Don't you need a spaceship or somethin'?"

"Maybe that's what crashed." Spike guessed.

Belle shook her head. _"No, we don't have a spaceship,"_

_"But I know some Beheeyem might." _Gene interrupted.

_"And we just woke up here, in this clearing." _Belle finished.

"What's a Beheeyem?" Apple Bloom asked, interrupting any questions from the adults.

_"Another type of Pokémon," _Gene explained. _"Kind of annoying actually, they've been known to abduct people and Pokémon, don't actually cause any real trouble though."_

"Pokémon?" Everyone in the group asked.

What's a Pokémon?" Twilight inquired.

_"You're kidding right?" _Gene asked. _"How can you not know what a Pokémon is?"_

"Different world, remember?" Twilight said. "Just humor me."

_"Well," _Gene started. _"Pokémon are... it's like, uh, huh, I never actually had to explain this before, Belle's a Pokémon, and so am I...now. But Pokémon come in every shape and size, some of them are actually very similar to you."_

"So, like animals?" Rainbow asked.

Belle gritted her teeth. _"No,"_ She stated coldly. _"Pokémon are NOT animals."_

The ponies all backed away slightly as the temperature seemed to drop. "What gives?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Gene placed a hand on Belle's shoulder, the two shared a glance and Belle seemed to calm down significantly. _"Calling a Pokémon an animal is... well, I suppose like calling you animals, it's an insult to their intelligence."_

"Oh, huh, sorry." Dash said sheepishly.

Twilight took a deep breath and began again. "Ok, this is getting us nowhere." Twilight complained. "Your world and our world are apparently _really _different in terms of life so comparing them is useless. Let's just head back to Sweet Apple Acres and I'll send a letter to the princesses asking for help."

"Wait, you're not bringin' those things back to the farm!" Applejack cried. "They're obviously dangerous, ah mean that one has swords on its arms." Gene did his best to hide his blades behind his back.

_"I wonder what they'd do if they saw a Scyther." _Gene said solely to Belle through their psychic link. He noticed his hat on the ground and picked it up, he brushed it off and placed it back on his head, maneuvering it over the spike that topped his new form.

Belle smiled and then, to the group before her, said. _"Well you're welcome to stand out here in the woods and ask us questions if you want."_

"Applejack..." Twilight whined, wanting to actually get some answers.

"Fine." She said begrudgedly. "But ah want you two where ah can see ya at all times."

_"Fine." _Gene and Belle pushed ahead of the poniesp but stopped and turned back. _"Which way is this farm?" _

Rainbow Dash volunteered to go ahead and lead the Pokemon back so that Applejack could glare at them from behind.

Without the necessity to answer everypony's questions Belle set her mental link just to herself and Gene. _"Any ideas?" _She asked Gene as they discussed the ponies.

_"Well they seem to be elementally inclined." _He explained. _"Like I said, I think Princess Twilight is a Psychic-Type and the wings would imply Flying, I'd bet Rainbow Dash is at least part Fighting and again Flying."_

_"How about Applejack?" _Belle nodded toward the mare still watching them from behind.

Gene thought for a moment and said. _"She could be Fighting, or Normal, or Ground or some combination there of." _He had always been good at figuring out Pokemon, and people, by watching them and how they acted. _"The little Dragon is, well, a Dragon, but he looks about as dangerous as Dratini." _Gene wasn't doubting Spike's power, actually he was overestimating it, he had trained a Dratini and knew what they were capable of.

_"Well what about the-"_

"Protect the hive!" Gene and Belle turned towards a thick grouping of trees and ducked just as something was blasted over their heads.

"What the hay!" Applejack and the others ran towards the clearing.

_"What was that?" _Belle asked, looking towards where the creature had disappeared.

_"I think we'd better find out." _The partners ran after the ponies and entered the clearing to see a large red stallion surrounded by dozens of buzzing bugs, none of them daring to attack as the stallion was currently threatening a much larger being at the center of the congregation, a being who was quite obviously the queen.


	5. Chapter 3

"Mac, what the hay is that thing?" Applejack asked, staring at the creature hovering in the air before her brother.

"No idea." He answered.

"_A Vespiquen?"_ Gene asked, walking past the multitude of Combee and, oddly enough, Beedrill, that buzzed around the clearing. _"How many other Pokémon are here?"_

"You know that thing?" Twilight asked, holding several Combee in a magic bubble.

"_Not really,"_ He explained. _"It's just another Pokémon."_

Oblivious to the mental conversation the Vespiquen turned her attention from Big Mac to the Psychic types.

"What do you want, Gallade!?" She spat. "This concerns neither you nor your mate."

Temporarily ignoring the Bug type, Gene turned to Belle.

"How did she know that?" He asked, slightly confused.

"For Pokémon there is a certain… scent, shared between the mated pair." Belle answered him. "It doesn't work if one of the mates is human, though."

"Ah, alright. Anyway," He turned back to the Bug type. "Vespiquen, you need to stop this," He gestured around the clearing at the mayhem. "These creatures have never encountered Pokémon before, they don't know-."

"Regardless!" The Vespiquen shouted, returning her attention to Big Mac. "This one attacked my hive, if the others stop now, then they may leave, but this one must be punished."

"Hang on, are you actually talking to that thing?" Rainbow Dash was flying around the clearing, being chased by several Beedrill who would occasionally fail to keep up with her agility and get caught in a tree, but more always came to take their comrades' places.

"_Yes,"_ Belle answered. _"All Pokémon can understand each other."_

"Well, what's it sayin'?!" Applejack shouted, bucking another Combee out of the clearing.

_"I have good news and bad news."_ Gene explained. _"She says that you can all leave,"_

"What's the - ugh! - bad news?" Twilight grunted, her force field becoming heavy under the weight of the dozens of Bee Pokémon in her grasp.

"_She says that since he,"_ Gene pointed to Big Mac. _"Attacked her hive, he must be punished."_

"She's on our property!" Applejack shouted. "And what do you mean 'punished'?"

Gene turned back to the Vespiquen. "Gal, Gallade, Gal?"

"Quen. Vespiquen, Vespi, Vespiquen!" Gene's eyes went wide.

"_You really don't want to know."_ He shook his head and turned to Belle. "Think you can beat her?"

"Of course I can." The Gardevoir smiled. Belle stepped forward and broadcast her thoughts to every being in the clearing._ "Vespiquen!"_ She announced. _"I hereby take full responsibility for…"_ She pulled Big Mac's name from his mind. _"Macintosh Apple's actions and words and restate them in full. I challenge you to a battle to decide the fate of this disagreement, should you win I will submit myself for any punishment you deem worthy, but if I am victorious you and your hive must submit to the demands of the Apple Family. Do you accept?"_

Every Pokémon in the clearing stopped and turned to their queen. The ponies were caught off guard by the sudden halt in action and faltered in their attacks. Dash crashed into a tree and Twilight's shield dropped as the Bug types ceased their assault.

The Vespiquen looked amongst her subjects, all of whom were watching her expectantly. "I accept your challenge, Gardevoir." She buzzed away from Big Mac and went to face Belle.

"Gene!" Twilight ran over to the Gallade. "Are you sure she can handle this?"

"_Don't worry, Belle's been in tougher situations than this." That time we faced Iris comes to mind._ He thought.

Belle and the Vespiquen stood in the center of the clearing, facing each other.

"You have the first move." Belle said.

The Vespiquen smirked. "Big mistake. Air Slash!" A compacted blade of air blasted towards Belle. The Psychic type side-stepped and dodged the attack.

She smiled and launched an immediate counterattack. "Shadow Ball!" An orb of shadow formed in front of Belle before launching towards the Bug type hitting her square in the face.

"Gahh!" Vespiquen flew backwards and fell to the ground. A moment later, her wings buzzed and she righted herself in the air.

"Fury Cutter!" She cried, slashing at Belle with her claws.

"Ahh!" Belle slid backwards but didn't fall over. "Magical Leaf!" Glowing, razor-sharp foliage flew towards the Bug type.

"Defend Order!" At that, every Combee, and many Beedrill, in the clearing dove in front of the attack, stopping it from hitting their queen.

"Hey!" Dash cried. "That's cheating!" She began to dive towards what she thought was a dishonest bug but was stopped when Gene blocked her with a bladed arm.

"_It would take longer to explain than is left in this battle, just stay back."_ Still upset Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and plopped down next to her friends to watch the rest of the battle.

"Attack Order!" Opposite of the last time, with this order every still conscious Bug type in the clearing, save for Vespiquen, flew at Belle, attacking her and covering her in a swarming heap.

"Do something!" Twilight screamed at Gene.

The former human smiled and counted. _"3, 2, 1."_

"_Dazzling Gleam!"_ The pile exploded outwards in a million pinpoints of shining light, multitudes of which shot forward and hit the injured Vespiquen.

Belle stood in the center of the clearing, surrounded by unconscious Combee and Beedrill. Vespiquen, after buzzing in the air for a few seconds, fell forward and said. "I yield, mate of this Gallade."

Belle smiled and walked over to Gene.

"And that, is that." She looked to Applejack and Big Mac. _"You may now make your demands."_

"What exactly does that imply?" Big Mac asked, still trying to wrap his head around the situation.

"_They have to do anything you ask of them."_ Belle explained. _"My best guess would be that you're going to ask them to leave. But for the record, they do produce rather delectable honey."_

Applejack was the first one to speak up. "Ah want them varmints outta here!"

"_There must be a consensus."_ Belle explained. "_And she knows that Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom are members too… apparently your family shares a similar scent."_

"You sayin' we smell?" Applejack narrowed her eyes.

"_You smell like apples,"_ She shrugged. _"It's not hard to piece together."_

"Just keep bickering, I'll be here." The Vespiquen chuckled.

"Quiet, you." Gene ordered.

"Look, can we just get these things off our property? Mac, Bloom, you agree with me right?" Applejack looked to her family expectantly.

"Ah don't know, AJ." Mac sized up the Vespiquen. "Our bees are already pretty helpful, and these ones are-"

"They were attackin' ya!" She snapped.

"_He did attack their hive."_ Gene added not-so-helpfully, earning him yet another glare from Applejack.

"_I have an idea."_ Belle said. _"Why don't I make it so you can actually talk to Vespiquen? Then you can have a discussion before coming to a decision."_

"You can do that?" Twilight asked. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be difficult. There are spells that let different species understand each other…" She nodded in understanding. "Go ahead."

Belle closed her eyes and linked the minds of the ponies and the Pokémon so that they would be able to understand each other.

"Did it work?" Apple Bloom asked, not feeling any different.

"I think so." Belle nodded. "You can understand me can't you?"

"Whoa," Dash shifted uncomfortably in the air. "How does that work?"

"It's a psychic thing." Gene explained. "You'll get used to it."

"Not likely." Applejack muttered under her breath.

"Is this getting anywhere?" Vespiquen crossed its arms and buzzed impatiently. "I have a hive to run."

"Hold your horses." Big Mac said. "You and I are gonna have a little chat."

The Vespiquen righted herself and flew forward towards Big Mac, while being slightly shorter than the Pony in actuality the size of her abdomen and the height at which she hovered gave her a formidable appearance. "What is it you wish to discuss… red Ponyta?" She was befuddled at what to call the creature before her.

"Pony." Big Mac corrected the insect, his voice dead serious. "And Ah want ta talk about what you and your swarm are doin' on my farm."

Vespiquen shook her head.

"I… honestly do not know." The queen's wings buzzed. "We were in Eterna Forest only last night. But, at some time during the night, all my workers and I lost consciousness,"

"That's what happened to us." Gene said to himself.

"And when we awoke, we were here." The Beehive Pokémon surveyed her surroundings. "Where is here?"

"You're in Sweet Apple Acres." Apple Bloom explained. "Just south of Ponyville."

"Pony-ville?" Vespiquen wondered aloud.

"We're trying to figure that out too." Gene said. "And our situation is a bit more…" He looked to his partner and sighed. "Complicated."

"So then!" Twilight's exclamation made everyone in the clearing jump. "All these creatures, the weird animals Fluttershy's been finding everywhere, and the insects the Apples have been dealing with, they're all these… Pokémon. This is very interesting; I've never seen anything like them."

"Y'know, Twi, that's great and all, but how did they get here?" the poly-chromatic pony asked.

Twilight smiled proudly and answered. "I have no idea!"

Everyone sighed and Big Mac returned his attention to Vespiquen. "Now listen Miss Vespiquen, Ah can forgive ya for attackin' me; you were defendin' your kin. But Ah gotta know, if Ah let ya stay, will ya listen ta what Ah tell ya?"

"Mac!" Applejack whined. "Ah wanted these things outta here!"

"I am honor bound to follow the will of those who defeat me, and since the Gardevoir has passed that right to your family, I must to do as you ask."

The Vespiquen bowed, and seconds later, the Combee and Beedrill did the same.

Big Mac thought for a second and then pulled Applejack and Apple Bloom into a huddle. After a few minutes the huddle broke and Big Mac walked back to Vespiquen. "Alright, we've come to a decision." Apple Bloom was smiling at her brother while Applejack was looking the other way, a perturbed look on her face. "You can stay on part of our farm. Where the orchard meets the Everfree, can't really use that place anyway, in exchange for some of the honey ya'll produce."

Vespiquen raised an eyelid. "Is that it?"

"Not quite," Mac replied. "Ya also have ta listen ta whatever the Apple Family says in terms of what you're doin' and ya can't harm any ponies while you're here."

"I obey." Vespiquen buzzed as he finished. She had expected a much harsher penalty; this just meant relocation, and a new hive was already needed since they lost the old one the night before.

Big Mac nodded with approval. "Good, now follow me, Ah'll lead ya ta where ya can stay." The large red Earth pony set off in the direction from which Applejack and the others had just come, Vespiquen and her hive following him.

"Well, that worked out better than expected." Gene commented.

"For some." Applejack whispered, assuming the Pokémon couldn't hear her.

Gene looked to Belle and they shared a mutual expression. _"She might be a problem."_

"_If she tries anything funny,"_ Belle replied. _"I doubt she'll prove to be much of a challenge."_

Belle wasn't worried for her own sake. She knew that while the pony was superior to her physically, Applejack would stand no chance against her psychic powers in an actual battle. She was worried for her partner. When he was human, Gene, while far from helpless, had been dependent on his team to get him out of any situations involving dangerous Pokémon simply because he was no match for their powers. Even though he was now a Gallade, he had no idea how to control his powers. A small smile graced Belle's face as a thought crossed her mind. _Looks like I get to teach him something new again._

"Alright, you two," Applejack nudged the Pokémon. "That's enough dilly-dallying, let's get a move on."

Complying with the Earth pony's request, Belle and Gene resumed their journey towards the farmhouse that was now visible over the treetops. Soon, the group arrived at the house and Applejack, having taken the lead as they entered the yard, blocked the doorway.

"Alright, Ah'm gonna tell Granny Smith what's goin' on so that she doesn't have a heart attack when you two come in." Applejack's eyes were hard, making even the air around her seem impassable. With one final warning glare, she trotted into the house and out of sight.

"We're not that scary, are we?" Belle turned to Twilight with a slightly befuddled expression.

"Not really, no. Granny Smith is just old and kind of frail." Twilight explained.

"Granny!" Applejack called from inside. "Ah'm back and - oh, ponyfeathers, what are those things?"

Taking that as their cue the group entered the house and walked into the kitchen. Where, to their surprise they saw not only Granny Smith and Applejack, but two Pokémon, both of which were somewhat dog-like in appearance. They had equal parts blue, black and yellow fur and three bone spikes sticking from their chests and either of their paws. Black lumps of what looked like hair fell from behind their pointed ears, and one of them was wearing a white and red helmet with matching boots that appeared to be roller skates.

"Okay… one of them is a Lucario, but the other one is… wait, is that-?" As Gene spoke up, both Lucario turned to face him, and the one in the skates smiled.

"Thank Arceus, other Pokémon." She looked herself over and then sheepishly corrected herself. "Psychic types… can one of you help me? Whatever these things are, they don't understand a word I say."

Gene instantly recognized the Lucario for who she actually was, or, he thought he did. She had the outfit, the attitude, and the voice. But she was a Pokémon. "S-sure," He stammered, hoping he was wrong. "Belle, do you think-?"

"Wait. Belle?" The skater Lucario held a paw to her chin and surveyed both Psychic types. "That Gardevoir… aha! I remember you! You're the one who challenged my gym last week, you're ah… um…" She attempted to snap her fingers, but her new digits wouldn't allow the action. "John!"

"It's Gene… hi, Korrina." The former human sighed and waited for the inevitable.

"Right, you're the one who…" Her eyes widened as she remembered the news she had received the other day, given to her by the same two Jennies that had chased down Gene and Belle in the forest. "You're-" She looked at the Gallade before her. "You're a Gallade."

Gene looked up, surprised at her response, and replied. "And you're a Lucario."

Korrina looked at her paws and squinted. "Yeah, I am, apparently."

For a moment things were awkwardly silent, then Twilight, in her inquisitive nature, broke the silence. "Yeah, I only heard one side of that conversation so… could somepony please translate?"

Belle sighed and stepped forward. She was getting tired of this.

"May I?" She held a hand towards Korrina, after a moment the Gym Leader realized what she was asking and answered.

"Oh, uh, sure, I guess?" Taking the affirmative, Belle expanded the translation link so that the ponies would be able to understand the Lucario.

"There," Belle said, slightly exhausted, making the translator was a lot harder than a telepathic link. "Now we'll all understand each other."

Applejack nodded. "Now what the hay are you two doin' in my house?" She stomped her hoof and gave the two other bipedals in the room hostile looks.

"Applejack!" Granny Smith shouted. "You mind your manners, young missy, Ah'll have you know that Ah invited these here folk inside."

Applejack looked at her grandmother in confusion. "Why?"

Granny Smith looked at her granddaughter as if it were obvious. "They looked like they needed help."

"Yeah," Korrina agreed. "We have no idea where we are, or what's going on."

"Not again." Rainbow Dash groaned. "And where are Rarity and Pinkie Pie?"

"Your friends are all out in the barn," Granny Smith answered. "Why don't ya go get 'em and we can all have a little chat."

"Yes ma'am." Applejack replied, still upset that her granny had sided with the creatures over her. She trudged out of the house, set on getting to the barn as quickly as possible, and was surprised to find Rainbow Dash and Twilight following her.

"Applejack?" Twilight asked, worry in her voice. "Are you alright? You seem kind of… upset."

"Ah'm fine, Twi." Applejack answered, her tone telling it was a lie. "It's just that all these critters are appearing outta nowhere and Ah'm the only one who-"

"Is acting like they're all monsters?" Rainbow Dash finished, earning her a glare from her friends. She threw her forehooves up in exasperation. "Hey, you know we're all thinking it!"

Applejack started walking towards the barn again. "You know, she does have a point." Twilight said, catching up to the Earth pony. Why are you acting like this? It's not like you at all."

"Ah just don't trust these Pokémon things. They ain't natural. You saw what that Belle gal can do? She shot shadows! Shadows, Twi! That ain't right."

"You mean how that Garamar… Gadahar… Belle is totally awesome and powerful?" Rainbow Dash asked giddily.

"Applejack, I'm thinking there's more to this than you not liking the Pokémon." Twilight ventured.

"Nope," Applejack shook her head. "Ah just can't help but see that every time we come across a non-pony they cause nothin' but trouble. Gilda was just a jerk, those Dogs foalnapped Rarity, those pests tried to take over Canterlot, and Discord… just Discord."

Twilight sighed and looked at her friend, seeing the logic behind her words but decided to right the wrongs. "Okay, first off just because Gilda was a jerk doesn't mean you should have anything against Griffins. Remember Gustave from the cake incident?"

"Ah don't have anything against Griffins," Applejack denied. "Just Gilda." Dash was finding it harder and harder to stop herself from yelling at them to stop mentioning her _former_ friend.

"That's fair," Twilight said. "But you should know that not all Diamond Dogs are like the ones we met. They have their own country, Canida, it's up north and Equestria has a trade agreement with them." Applejack stayed silent as Twilight continued her campaign. "And, I didn't even know this one until recently. The Changelings that attacked Canterlot aren't the only Changelings. Chrysalis and her followers were arrested by Emperor Carapace. He's the official ruler of the Changelings… and Chrysalis's grandfather."

"Wait, those pests ain't all dead?" Applejack asked in slight alarm.

"No," Twilight answered, unamused. "The Changeling Empire has their own country deep in the jungles of Hoofrica. They have a few harvesters in each country who bring love to the hive… but most of the rulers, Celestia included, are told of the infiltrators' identities, they'd use their normal forms but… like you keep saying, most ponies would see them as pests."

"How'd ya find that out?" Applejack asked, worry in her voice.

"I'm a princess now, remember?" Twilight answered with a smile. "It's my job. Celestia has been giving me almost all the information she knows over the past few weeks."

"And Discord is actually pretty cool once you get to know him." Rainbow added, remembering the pranking spree she, Pinkie, and the reformed lord of chaos had gone on once Pinkie had convinced her to give him a chance, that had made for one… unusual letter to the princess.

"And you're forgetting one key pony." Twilight said, preparing to deliver the death blow.

"Who's that?" Applejack snapped, tired of her friend's speech.

"Zecora." Applejack stopped dead in her tracks. She _had_ forgotten Zecora, not that she was actually forgetting the Zebra, she was just so used to her now that she seemed like any other Pony, minus the rhyming.

"Horseapples." She muttered, realizing she was treating the Pokémon like how Ponyville had treated Zecora for all those years. "Ya'll are right, Ah've been actin' mighty foolish... ya think Gene and Belle'll forgive me?"

She was genuinely penitent for her actions and wanted to make right by the ones she had wronged, if they would let her.

"You betcha!" Rainbow Dash shouted, slapping her friend on the back. "Those two don't seem like the type to hold a grudge… probably."

Applejack sighed and mentally berated herself for treating the new arrivals like that. She continued this in silence until she reached the barn. She pushed the door open slowly.

"Rarity! Pinkie! 'Shy! Ya'll in here?"

"Over here, darlings…" The bewildered voice of Rarity came from the corner of the barn. They all looked over and gasped at the sight. Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood, mouths agape, as they stared at Fluttershy, who stood in the center of a vortex of Butterfree, Beautifly, Dustox, and Beedrill.

"W-where did those come from?" Applejack asked in awe. "And where are all the pods?" Not one of the cocoon Pokémon from earlier was seen in the barn.

"Those are the pods." Rarity answered, cringing.

"No they're not." Twilight shook her head. "Those are completely different creatures, and even if some kind of metamorphosis occurred the shells would be here somewhere."

"That's not what we saw!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "When Rarity and I got here, we found Fluttershy talking to all these bug pod things that totally grossed Rarity out - *gasp*!" She took in a volume of air before continuing to speak. "But then after Fluttershy was doing what Fluttershy does to them for a while, they started glowing white then they changed into those things when the glowing stopped." A Butterfree landed on her head. She'd said all that in two breaths. How that was even possible, no one knew.

"She's telling the truth, darlings." Rarity turned back to the congregation around her friend. "I just have no idea how."

"Fluttershy, are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking." The quiet Pegasus just smiled as one of the Beautifly landed on her head and nuzzled her with its proboscis.

"'Shy? Ah hate ta interrupt… whatever ya've got goin' on here, but we kinda need ya back at the house, sugarcube."

"Oh, alright." Fluttershy sighed. "I'm sorry everyone, but it looks like I've got to go." A resounding chorus of disappointed cries filled the barn. "Don't worry, I promise I'll come and visit you. Or you can come visit me, Cubone and Togepi could tell you where I live, couldn't you?" She turned to the as of yet unnoticed Pokémon sitting on a barrel near the front of the barn.

"Cubone!"

"Toki-prree!" The little ones seemed to explain where Fluttershy lived to the Bug types, whom nodded in understanding and each gave a goodbye hug or nuzzle to the kind mare before buzzing or fluttering out the open barn doors.

"Well that was… strange." Twilight said. "And it just gives me one more thing to ask those two when I get back."

"Well then let's get a move on!" Dash shouted, her impatience getting the best of her. "I want to see more of those cool moves!" Everypony laughed as they started back towards the house, hoping to finally get some answers.

* * *

Meanwhile, In Canterlot…

"Just hold it still, Luna!"

"Nay, We do not want to touch it! Discord!"

"No way! That _thing_ bit me, I'm staying nice and safe behind this barricade." The barricade Discord was mentioning was actually made out of pillows.

"Don't be such a foal." Celestia commanded. "Now get over here and help us contain this creature."

"You are one to talk sister." Luna glared at the elder Alicorn. "_You_ haven't come within ten feet of this thing since we found it."

"Trubbish!" The Pokémon complained as it flailed. It was not happy with its current situation at all. It had been enjoying itself in a trashcan in Castelia City when, the next thing it knew, it was being pulled from a different trashcan in a different city by three things the likes of which it had never seen and had then been shoved into a birdcage. 'The only thing on paw' as Discord had put it.

"Everypony, just stop arguing." Celestia stood in front of the creature's cage and glared at it. "We need to figure out what this is and where it came from."

"Trubbish?"

"And why it keeps saying that." Discord added, popping up from behind his barrier and joining the sisters at the center of the room, they were in one of the extra bedrooms because the librarian had ran them out of the library after seeing the creature. "I'm open to ideas."

"Well…" Celestia thought for a moment. "There's a scientist at my school. His name is Bio Chem. He might be able to figure something out about it."

Discord shivered at the mention of the name. "Don't mention him, I think he tried to dissect me, and nullify my magic, in fact I think he thinks I'm some kind of science project."

Luna smiled, remembering the stallion, but then developed a frown. "Would it not have to have DNA for a geneticist to look at it?"

"Yes but, why wouldn't this have DNA?" Celestia looked at the creature. Sure, it was… for lack of a better word, 'different', but it was still alive, and even timberwolves and cragadiles had DNA.

"Tia," Discord said, leaning towards the cage. "This thing is garbage,"

"That's not very nice, Discord." Despite its outward appearance, Celestia was not going to treat this creature any differently than she would any other animal, unless it proved dangerous.

"No, it's literally made of garbage. Watch." Discord conjured up a can of soda and, after pouring the contents on to the ceiling, threw the can into the birdcage.

"Trubbish!" The Pokémon leaped and caught the can in its mouth, it crunched happily on the aluminum the same way a foal would a candy bar.

"Alright… We are beginning to agree with Discord." Luna took a step backwards. "That is not natural. Could it have been magically animated?"

Celestia shook her head. "I already scanned it and I found no evidence of magical tampering."

Discord pulled a straw from nowhere and sucked the soda down from the ceiling, along with a few paint chips. "Then what are we goin-"

"Swa?"

Discord stopped talking and turned to the window where a small blue and white bird sat on the open windowsill. "What's that?" He pointed to the creature and drew it to Celestia and Luna's attention.

"Aww," Luna looked at the puffy thing. "I don't know, but it is adorable."

"Swablu." The fluffy winged Pokémon fluttered into the room and landed on the bed. It cocked its head, which, frankly was its entire body, and looked up at the beings before it. "Swablu?"

Luna smiled and slowly walked over to the bed, careful not to disturb the creature. "Hello little one," She cooed gently as she reached the edge of the bed, to her surprise the bird did not try to fly away, instead it looked at her curiously and again cried out.

"Swablu?"

"Luna, be careful." Celestia warned. "It could be dangerous." As if on cue the little creature took to the air and darted right towards Luna's face, where it immediately perched itself on the princess' horn and wrapped its wings around its body so it seemed to be a blue and white puffy ball instead of a cottony bird.

"Awww." Luna cried again. "Can we keep him?"

"Luna, I-"

"Please, sister?" Luna gave Celestia the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes she could, and, coupled with the tiny ball of fluff watching her curiously from her sister's horn, the solar princess crumbled.

"Fine."

"Yay!"

"But we have to get it checked out to make sure it's not dangerous, and since we already have this to take to him." Celestia picked the Trubbish in the birdcage up in her magic. "I'm going to have Bio Chem check it out."

Luna smiled and agreed, figuring that the stallion's equipment wouldn't find anything wrong with her new pet. "How could anything this cute be dangerous?"


	6. Chapter 4

Celestia and Luna stood in one of the private labs of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, watching as the rings of a machine before them spun at an increasingly alarming rate. Discord had opted out of going, fearing that the stallion running the equipment would try to dissect him again.

"Unbelievable." Bio Chem looked at the readout on the screens and shook his head. "Inconceivable." He checked a print coming from another machine. "Impossible."

Celestia shifted awkwardly as she watched him run from machine to machine. She had no idea how any of the technology worked, because, unlike Luna, who seemed to embrace new advances in science and magic, she largely kept with some of the "old ways", though some of the excitement about these advancements nipped at her, so she was beginning to give in to the urges to learn more. With the stallion completely engrossed in his work, she and Luna were basically just waiting for the results.

"Where did you say you found this one?" He asked, pointing to the Trubbish inside the machine that had now stopped spinning. His accent was vaguely Trottingham, but with an odd bit of Germane thrown in.

"In the garbage." Celestia answered.

"And this one," He walked over to the Swablu, resting on an exam table after its scan. "Just came in a window?"

"Yes," Luna said, losing patience in the science. "Now are they dangerous or not?"

"Depends." Bio Chem pulled the Trubbish from the machine and placed it on a counter.

"On what?" Celestia watched as the Trash Bag Pokémon began to eat a container of Q-tips.

"On who you're asking." Bio Chem tapped the Swablu's beak and wrote something down on a clipboard.

"Bio Chem." Celestia sighed. This always happened when she went to him for help. "Could you please just explain yourself, clearly?"

"Certainly, Princess," He set down the clipboard and began explaining. "These creatures are of course dangerous. Everything is; that one for instance," He pointed to the Trubbish, still eating Q-tips from a jar. "Is obviously dangerous if you're garbage… or allergic to several types of unknown and possibly deadly or acidic toxins."

"What?"

"And this one," He walked over to the Swablu and held up a dark brown fore hoof, which the creature quickly fluttered onto. "Is probably dangerous to insects and possibly some types of fruit." He thought for a second and then said. "I also found trace elements of Draconic DNA in it, which I can't quite explain."

Bio Chem walked over to the Princesses. "But to answer your question, partially at least, this little bird is very likely not dangerous to Ponies, Griffins, Zebras, or any life form larger than a house fly."

"Yes!" Luna grabbed the bird and placed it on her back, it again hunkered down into a small puffy ball.

"Fine," Celestia said, not having been worried about the bird anyway. "But what about the trash?"

"That," He smiled almost giddily, moving a stray strand of his spiked stark white hair out of his eyes. "Is where it gets interesting."

He rushed to one of the cupboards and pulled it open, leaning in and rummaging around until he pulled out a small metal chip. "This… thing, whatever it is, has DNA," He turned a screen towards the princesses, revealing a DNA helix much like the one on the geneticist's flank but instead of black like his cutie mark, or red and blue like his screens normally showed, this strand was purple and green. "But, in all honesty, it shouldn't. It is, from what I can tell, genetically altered and animated garbage, and since garbage doesn't have a genetic structure unless you're dumpster diving at a sushi house, that raises a whole new set of questions."

Celestia and Luna watched as Bio Chem walked over to the Pokémon, opened its mouth like one would a trash can lid, and dropped the chip in.

"Trubbish." The creature replied, happily licking its lips.

"Why'd you do that?" Luna asked, turning away from her new pet as Bio Chem turned another screen towards them revealing... a blank screen and a straight line, like on a broken heart rate monitor.

"That chip was a tracker I designed for the Dragon Migration last year, it was made to withstand lava, Dragon fire, and, if need be, Draconic digestive juices. This screen monitors its current location and condition. Tell me what you see?"

Both sisters looked at the screen, not wanting to say something stupid that they didn't know was stupid.

"Nothing?" Celestia ventured.

"Exactly!" Bio Chem's sudden exclamation made both princesses jump, and the little bird on Luna's back to dart into the lunar princess's mane for shelter. "This thing has some kind of toxins in its digestive tract, bloodstream, and pretty much every internal structure, that is more toxic than a Dragon's blood or digestive juice."

Celestia nodded her head, beginning to understand. "So it is dangerous."

"Not unless you provoke it, it appears." Or not. "It seems to have the ability to spray this toxin from its mouth or hands as a defense mechanism, but seeing as it hasn't done that then it's either less intelligent than the brain scans suggest or it doesn't feel like it's in enough danger to warrant an attack."

"And just how intelligent is it?" Celestia asked, an aching suspicion that he was once again not mentioning some important detail.

"Oh… it's sapient actually. The bird, too."

Celestia facehoofed. "Couldn't you have mentioned that earlier?"

"Not really, the brain scan was one of the last tests I administered and you were asking me about genetics, I only do neuroscience as a side thing."

Celestia was about to say something, but Bio Chem interrupted her.

"Oh, and speaking of genetics, those things share less than ten percent of their genetic code with any Equestrian species… that I have a scan of." He silently cursed the chaos god's unwillingness. "But they share a good… let's say, twenty percent? With each other. Sorry, but I'm not used to this kind of genetic structure, so the exact numbers are a bit lacking."

"What does that mean?" Luna asked as she coaxed her new friend out of her mane.

"It means what I said. They share common DNA and lack almost all Equestrian DNA."

"Bio Chem, what-?"

"Princess!" Two Unicorn solar guards and Bat Ponies burst through the door, holding yet another creature between them.

"We found this trying to sneak into the castle." The lunar guard reported.

The creature between the solar guards was brown and, statue like, in appearance, it had a head as large as its body, marked with several black lines, and green eyes that pointed almost straight down, its body was marked with four light brown dots and its legs were extremely stubby, instead of fingers ending its short arms there were three button like spots, one green, one yellow, and one red.

"What is that?" Bio Chem rushed past the Alicorns and over to the creature. "Hello," The Earth pony said with a smile. "What are you, then?"

The creature looked up at the stallion and, to the surprise of all, spoke.

_"My name is Professor Juniper..."_ She looked down at her new hands. _"and I'm supposed to be human."_

* * *

Applejack and the others arrived back at the house to find Granny Smith, Spike, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Gene, Belle, Korrina, and Korrina's Lucario, sitting in the living room. With Gene and Belle explaining what had happened on the way over.

"-and after your grandson took the hive to where he said they could stay, Applejack led us here." Gene looked to the group who had just entered the room and smiled.

Granny Smith soon took notice and smiled as well. "Good, now that we're all here we can finally get some answers."

"Just a minute, Granny," Applejack stepped forward, walking closer to the Psychic pair. Gene and Belle were expecting her to say something else hurtful or rude. "Ah want to apologize ta you two," They looked at her in shock. "Ah haven't been treatin' you like Ah should, Ah was treatin' you like you weren't ponies… um, Ah think you get what Ah'm sayin'. I judged ya'll too quickly cause Ah was all paranoid due ta Pinkie's doozy, but that ain't an excuse. Ya'll seem like right kind folk, and Ah hope ya can forgive me."

She held a hoof towards Gene with a sorry expression on her face, Gene looked at her for a second, then smiled and grabbed her hoof, shaking it and saying. "Apology accepted."

Applejack smiled and turned to Belle. The Gardevoir stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Apology accepted."

Granny Smith chuckled and said. "Good ta see everyone's gettin' along, now how about some answers?" Despite her calm demeanor, the elder mare was actually rather curious about the creatures currently in her home, and apparently under her employ. "Now these two have filled me in on what's happened since ya met them, 'bout Pokémon and the bees and all, but they wanted to wait until we were all here ta answer any more questions, and since they have some themselves, Ah figured it would be best ta let a princess handle the proceedings and whatnot."

Twilight's eyes went wide, partially from excitement and partially from nervousness, at the prospect of conducting diplomatic proceedings with the first extra-Equestrian life forms ever discovered. _What if I say something wrong and offend them? Is there a proper greeting? What about all the different species? How can I-?_

"Princess? Princess? You alright?" Gene waved a bladed arm in front of Twilight's face, causing her to return to reality as well as flinch back at the sight of the appendage.

"Sorry." Gene apologized sheepishly. "You got really quiet all of a sudden and you were starting to hyperventilate."

"It's alright," Twilight took a deep breath and remembered her princess lessons, she and the others took various seats around the room, Fluttershy placed Cubone and Togepi on the ground near her hooves. "So… do any of you have any titles that we should address you by?"

The four Pokémon that were the subjects looked at each other, mostly with Gene looking to Korrina, who shrugged.

"Not really," Gene shook his head. "Korrina's a Gym Leader but that's not like a princess or anything."

"I am a marchioness in the Battle Chateau," Korrina explained with a smile. "But that's just for battles, no real world implications."

Twilight nodded and filed the phrases, 'Gym Leader' and 'Battle Chateau' for later use.

"Mind if I ask something?" Gene ventured.

"Not at all." Twilight smiled, hoping the question would be about Equestria, or magic, or Equus.

"Why does that pony have a Togepi and a Cubone?" Twilight barely hid her disappointment as she answered.

"Fluttershy found them, and what I'm guessing were a lot of other Pokémon this morning, those two are just sensitive from what I've heard."

Gene nodded and smiled outwardly, inwardly, however, was a different story. _"A Cubone acting all sensitive? That's not going to be a pretty subject."_

_"No it's not,"_ Belle agreed through the link she had set up. _"But we agreed not to lie to them unless absolutely necessary."_

_"Poor little guys."_ Gene sighed in resignation. _"We'll talk to them later."_

The conversation took place almost instantly, leaving no silence between Twilight's answer and the next question which, surprisingly, came from Fluttershy who, upon entering the house, had tried to make herself seem as small as possible, probably due to the intimidating stature of the Lucario pair and Gene's more… hazardous features.

"I have a question."

Belle, sensing the mare's discomfort, answered as gently as possible. "Go ahead, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy shifted nervously. "Um, you see, Togepi and Cubone were acting, sort of depressed when I found them, and Cubone still seems to be having some problems… do you have any idea why?"

"Crud." Korrina cursed under her breath.

"Well, you see," Gene started nervously. "Cubone have an… unpleasant history in our world, but that might not be it! He could be missing his Trainer, or something."

"C-could you ask him? I mean, if that's not too much trouble. Twilight told me you can understand Pokémon on the way over."

"S-sure." Gene turned to Korrina and Belle, both of whom had nervous expressions, then directed his attention to the little Pokémon. "Cubone?" He said, attracting the Ground type's attention. "W-would you mind telling me why you're sad?" _Please don't be it. Please don't be it. Please don't be it._

"I-I-I m-miss mommy.' The little creature said with a sniffle. _Crap._ Cubone went from sniffling to crying softly and Fluttershy picked him up, cradling him in her hooves she looked at Gene with alarm.

"What happened? What did you do?" There was clearly anger in her voice and Gene hoped to avoid any kind of confrontation.

"I just asked the question, I swear." He said holding up his hands. "It's the answer that's the problem."

"Well what's the answer?" Rainbow Dash looked at him in confusion.

Gene sighed and hung his head. "He misses his mommy." There was silence in the room until Applejack broke it.

"W-what do you mean?" She had a sneaking suspicion at the Gallade's meaning but wanted to hear it herself.

Belle decided to answer the question. "Do you have poachers here, Applejack?"

Fluttershy looked up at the mention of poachers and answered. "P-poachers, you mean those meanies who, who… oh no." The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

"I'm afraid so." Belle looked to the little creature crying into Fluttershy's shoulder, she used her powers to block what she was about to say. "I've temporarily blocked Cubone's…" A second thought and she did the same to Togepi. "And Togepi's hearing to say this." The Gardevoir steeled herself. "Cubone's mother… was likely killed by poachers."

For a moment, no one spoke, then Twilight spoke. "Girls, Spike, could you go upstairs for a moment? I don't want you to hear this."

The group complained and in the end Belle just put a cone of silence on them as well.

Without the danger of scaring the children, Twilight asked her next question. "You said history, what did you mean?"

Korrina spoke up. "Cubone's mother, a Pokémon called Marowak, are often hunted for their pelt and bones, or rather, most of their bones, at least."

"Wh-who would do such a thing?" Fluttershy was part scared, part angry, and part ready to burst into tears.

"Some terrible humans," Korrina explained. "A group called Team Rocket really started it a couple of decades back but it's still happening today, despite the authorities' best attempts to stop it."

"Humans? Are they another type of Pokémon?" Twilight, while horrified with the facts, was morbidly interested in the world from which the Pokémon came.

"No," Korrina said. "Not Pokémon."

"Then what are they?"

Korrina looked Twilight straight in the eyes. "I'm a human."

"Korrina!" Gene snapped, he thought she was going to keep that a secret.

"Sorry Gene, but I'm explaining this situation completely," She looked at him, a knowing look in her eye. "How else are we going to get back to normal?"

Gene fell silent as the ponies looked between them. "Ah thought you called her a Lucario or somethin'?" Applejack was more than slightly confused at the turn of events.

"Well she is a Lucario…" Gene rolled his eyes.

"I'm supposed to be human." Korrina turned to him with an edge in her voice. "Or did you forget that you're one too?"

"Alright, somepony better start makin' sense soon." Applejack was practically shouting at this point.

"Gene and I," Korrina explained. "Were humans back on Earth, but now we're Pokémon."

"So… you're the ones who-" Belle was actually the one who cut Fluttershy off.

"I, as one who has always been a Pokémon, can personally assure you that neither Korrina nor Gene have ever done anything as barbaric as the situation with Cubone."

"CAN SOMEPONY TURN THIS THING OFF NOW?" Scootaloo shouted, Belle removed the cone of silence from the fillies, the Pokémon, and Spike.

"Which, I suggest, we discuss at a later date."

"Alright," Twilight was trying to keep calm as the room rapidly descended into chaos. "You two, stop arguing and explain yourselves."

Korrina smiled, still watching Gene. "Sorry, Princess. You see, Gene and I are actually humans and we have somehow been transformed into Pokémon."

"How?"

Korrina shrugged. "Probably the same way we got here."

"Well…" Twilight was about to ask why no one had mentioned that particular subject earlier, but realized, from the Pokémon's reactions, that the subject was probably very touchy. However, she did need an answer. "This seems like a pretty important detail. Why didn't you mention it before?"

Gene looked at Twilight, then at Belle, then Korrina, who wouldn't meet his gaze. "I… it – look, it's really personal for me, okay?" He knew he would have to answer it eventually, he just didn't want to do it in front of so many.

Twilight seemed to realize this and decided to drop the subject. "Alright, we'll talk about it later, but this whole thing has brought up two really important questions."

"Actually I think there are more like seven or something by now." Rainbow Dash commented from the couch.

"No," Pinkie tapped a pen to a clipboard that she had pulled from somewhere. "There're about five. I've keeping track."

"The question is," Twilight said, ignoring her friends. "How did you get here? And how did you get transformed?"

"That's two of the five." Pinkie smiled and crossed something off a checklist.

"Is there anything you can think of, anything at all, that could have caused this to happen?" Twilight asked, hoping for a straight answer.

Gene, Belle and Korrina looked at each other, scratching their heads and generally being lost. That is, until Gene remembered an old legend he had heard in the Sinnoh region. "Oh, Arceus," He muttered aloud. "The legendaries."

* * *

Deep in the Everfree Forest, beyond the hut of a Zebra herbalist, beyond the Ancient Castle of the Alicorn Sisters, beyond the cave of a forest-dwelling dragon, there sat a temple. It hadn't always been there, but it had still been around long enough to send a clear warning to all who came near it. Enter at your own risk. It had arrived a little after breakfast.

_"Lord Arceus?"_ Articuno sat beside her siblings as she waited for the god's next announcement.

Arceus turned his attention away from the strings of destiny he had been studying and turned to the ice bird. _"Yes, Articuno?"_

_"What exactly are we waiting for?"_ A murmur of agreement went up from the assembled Pokémon.

_"Not much, really. I've been watching several groups, one very close to here, and am trying to piece together what the outcome of this situation might be."_ Predicting the future was no easy task, even for a god.

_"Then can we leave?"_ Hoopa tapped the table impatiently.

_"Yesss,"_ Zygarde hissed. _"Thisss forest is in tune with chaoss, I wish to cleanssse it."_

Arceus looked at his family and sighed, he knew letting them all leave would only cause problems._"Zygarde you may begin clearing this forest. Shaymin, go help him."_ Shaymin had reverted to her earth form during the transfer, but was happy to oblige, she followed Zygarde as he slithered out of the temple. _"I can't let you all leave just yet. Mass hysteria would ensue."_

Several of the legendaries groaned at the announcement. _"But I believe that allowing some of you to leave might be fortuitous, check the state of the world and whatnot. Suicune, Mew, Deoxys, I want you three to begin this. Try to stay hidden for now if you can."_

The Mew and Suicune smiled and Deoxys smiled on the inside as the three made their way out of the temple. _"And Mew."_ Arceus said through a mental link between them. _"Be careful, sweetie."_

Mew giggled and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Arceus and forty-eight other legendaries alone in the ancient temple. _"Anyone know any good jokes?"_ Hoopa asked, electing another groan from the group.

Arceus turned his attention away from his family and back to the strings of fate, and back to Sweet Apple Acres.

* * *

"So, these legendary Pokémon," Twilight tried to summarize what she had just been told. "Are sort of like gods in your world?"

"Some of them more so than others," Belle explained. "But yes."

"And a few of these legendaries,"

"Mostly Arceus," Gene interrupted.

"Might have enough power to cause all of this?" The princess gestured around the room at the Pokémon, and humans in Pokémon form, currently in the magical land of Equestria.

"If anything on Earth has enough power to cause this it would be Arceus." Belle looked to her mate.

"But Arceus is supposed to be locked in another dimension, and besides." Gene said, spreading his arms wide in annoyance. "Why would a god do something like this?"

"I can think of a god who might do this for fun." Twilight Sparkle suddenly remembered something she was supposed to do. "Oh, darn it! Spike, I need you to write a letter to Princess Celestia telling her what's going on."

"On it… does anyone have some paper?"

"Hang on." Applejack trotted into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a piece of parchment.

"Thanks." Spike began to summarize the current situation for the solar princess, the Pokémon, the humans, the possibility of the legendaries. "There." He rolled up the paper and held it in front of his jaw.

Korrina looked at the little Dragon with confusion. "What are you-?" The Pokémon's eyes went wide as Spike blew fire on to the letter, which collected in a puff of smoke and flew out a window. "Doing?"

Twilight saw the expression on the Lucario's face and laughed. "Don't worry, that's how I send letters to the princess."

"By burning them?"

"Yes."

Korrina decided not to question it any further, figuring that she wouldn't have to get used to the inexplicable world of Equestria. Maybe this Princess Celestia would be able to do something. She looked down at her hands – paws – and sighed. She really hoped she could.

"Twilight," Spike said. "We should probably head to the library, the princess will probably want to meet us there."

"Good idea, Spike." Twilight stood up. "I need you four to come with me," She pointed to the Pokémon. "Girls, you should probably come too." The former Elements of Harmony nodded, Fluttershy picked Togepi off of the floor and placed her next to the sleeping Cubone on her back. Twilight then turned to the CMC's. "You three are going to stay here, and actually stay this time, alright?"

"Yes, Princess Twilight." Normally Twilight would've told them that they didn't have to call her that but for the situation, it seemed oddly fitting.

"Granny, you'll keep an eye on 'em right?" Applejack looked to her grandmother expectantly.

"Of course Ah will," Granny Smith looked down at the fillies and smiled. "They can help me in the kitchen, Ah'm makin' apple pies for dessert. And ah expect all'a ya ta be back for dinner."

Applejack chuckled. "We'll try, Granny."

The ponies said their goodbyes and left the farmhouse, with the Pokémon following behind them.

As they walked Belle managed to spot several Pokémon hiding amongst the trees. A Scyther was sound asleep in the upper branches, a Graveler curled up along the roadside, and a Kecleon was attempting to camouflage itself. But something in the corner of Belle's eye caught her attention, she turned and saw a light pink cat-like face watching her from behind a tree, but once she blinked it was gone.

"Belle?" Gene noticed his partner's distraction. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just thought… never mind. Just my mind playing tricks on me." Gene wasn't completely convinced but let the subject drop.

While Gene was still upset with Korrina for bringing up that situation back at the house, he understood that it had been ultimately unavoidable. "So," He said to the group of Pokémon. "How many Pokémon do you think got transported, and how many used to be humans?"

"No idea," Korrina looked to her partner. "Lucario, can you see anything?"

The Aura Pokémon sighed and spoke for the first time since explaining himself to Granny Smith. "It is… hard to tell, Korrina. The energies of this world are different than our own, and these ponies have auras like nothing I've ever seen, the world's energy is much richer than Earth's… and oddly enough, your own auras," He looked to his Trainer and Gene. "Have already begun to change from human to that of Pokémon."

"Is that good or bad?" Korrina asked.

"It's not exactly either, I've just never seen something like this before." Lucario shrugged.

The group fell silent for a while but the ponies were still discussing the matter. "What exactly do you think's going to happen here?" Rainbow Dash flew lazily alongside her friends.

Twilight sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today. "I don't know. I'm hoping the princesses will be able to do something, but in all honesty, I have no idea."

Nopony spoke. They were all so used to Twilight coming up with a plan, whether it went badly or not, but now the mare seemed utterly distraught at the prospect of not having a clue what to do.

While everypony mulled over what to say next, Togepi, still sitting on Fluttershy's back, turned towards a grove of trees. "Toki?" She looked quizzically at the apple trees for a moment, listening, then smiled and jumped off of Fluttershy's back, she began to waddle towards the woods but was interrupted when Fluttershy caught her.

"Now, sweetie," She said to the squirming Pokémon. "You can't go running off like that, I don't want you-"

"Vaporeon!" Fluttershy looked up but was too late to dodge the blue blur that tackled her and knocked her to the ground.

"Fluttershy!" The girls and Spike ran back to their friend and the Pokémon rushed forward. Cubone, who had gotten off of Fluttershy when she went to catch Togepi, was crying again.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked up at the half-cat, half-fish face glaring down at her. "Vaporeee…" Fluttershy hid behind her hooves as the creature growled at her.

"Toki-preee!" The Vaporeon suddenly looked up, all hate gone from its stare, and rushed over to the little Pokémon.

Belle and the other Pokémon managed to reach the Vaporeon before Twilight and her friends.

"Oh, I was so worried!" the Vaporeon cried, holding Togepi.

"I'm sorry, Misty." The Togepi whispered sweetly.

"Misty?" Gene and Korrina both jumped at the name. Korrina because she knew of the Kanto gym leader, and Gene because he had battled her once while competing in the Kanto league.

Misty looked up just as the ponies arrived, Rarity and Pinkie began to comfort Fluttershy while Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran to where Misty and the other Pokémon were.

"Explain." Twilight ordered, eyeing the entire group. "Now."

Gene sighed and began explaining. "Twilight, everyone, this is Misty. She's a Vaporeon but, like us she used to be human."

"Wait, you used to be human too?" Misty asked in amazement.

"Yes," Korrina answered. "I'm Korrina, a Gym Leader from Kalos, and this is Gene."

"What'd she ask you?" Dash looked down at the Water type.

"She was surprised that we used to be human." Gene explained.

"Well why'd she attack Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.

"I was _trying_ to get Togepi, when I saw your friend holding her I kinda freaked out, sorry but you wouldn't believe the day I've been having."

"Yes, they would." Belle replied. "She was worried that Togepi, who is one of her Pokémon by the way, was in danger."

"From Fluttershy?" Twilight deadpanned.

"What's going on?" Misty wondered aloud.

"It's a long story, and this is confusing. Belle, can you do that thing you did to me so we can have one conversation?" Korrina looked at the Psychic type and smiled.

"Fine." Belle extended her arm towards Misty and reached into her mind, she was already supporting Gene's, Korrina's, Lucario's and her own translator but she figured she could handle one more.

The former human looked up at the Gardevoir. "What are you doing?" The translator happened to activate halfway through the question. "Va, Vap-you doing?"

"W-what's going on here anyway?" Misty looked up at the ponies nervously.

Gene decided to give Misty the quick version of their situation. "Hi, I'm Gene, I actually battled you once a few years back but that's not important. As for your question… we're on Equus, which is apparently another planet populated by these guys," He gestured to the ponies before them, Pinkie Pie waved. "Who are called ponies, we don't really have any idea what happened or why we're Pokémon but we're going to a meeting with the rulers of Equestria, that's this region, and hoping that they can help us, also," He smirked. "Have you gotten shorter?"

Misty's mind took a moment to process the info dump it had just received… then she registered what might have been an insult. "Hey!" Gene just smiled.

* * *

Princess Celestia was no stranger to the odd and unusual, she had been around for over a thousand years and experienced many things she could not, to this very day, explain. But drinking tea in a high tech lab with her little sister, an Earth pony geneticist, and an alien from another world… now that was new.

"So Professor," Bio Chem said as he sipped his tea. "You were working in your lab, late one night, researching… Pokémon?" The Pokémon professor nodded in affirmation. "Then you remember falling asleep and when you woke up you were in the royal gardens?"

_"In a new body, yes."_ Professor Juniper was not very happy about her current situation, she was a lost Beheeyem, a confused Beheeyem, a scared Beheeyem, and all in all, a Beheeyem.

"Ah, yes, you mentioned that you were a… what was it called, a human earlier? What exactly do you mean?"

_"I mean I was a human, and now I'm a Pokémon."_ She looked down at the cup of tea in her hands, which, due to her new body lacking any form of mouth, she couldn't drink. _"I've somehow changed into a Beheeyem overnight."_

"Well then!" Bio Chem exclaimed. "You've come to the right place, Bio Chem's the name, genetic research and DNA modeling is my game." The stallion ran off to gather equipment, leaving the princesses and the Pokémon alone.

_"Should I be worried?"_ Juniper asked the princesses, fearing that she was about be dissected.

Celestia laughed and answered. "No, Bio Chem can be a little eccentric at times but he's never physically harmed anyone."

_"What about mentally?"_

Celestia shrugged. "He once scared a pair of Unicorns so badly they passed out, he was testing a new form of magical nullifier and drained the magic from the entire room." The princess might have come up with more examples but as it was a wisp of smoke flew into the room and solidified in front of her.

Celestia caught the scroll in her magic and began to read it. As she did her eyes began to widen and, noticing this, her sister leaned over to her and asked. "Is everything alright, sister?"

"Luna… it would appear that these creatures," She pointed to the Swablu perched on Luna's horn, and the Trubbish was resting peacefully in a waste paper basket nearby. "Are not an isolated incident." The solar princess stood up suddenly, her sister copied her. "We must get to Ponyville at once."

She looked to Juniper, who had a very puzzled look on her face and said. "I apologize Professor Juniper, but my sister and I must be off, I leave you in capable hooves."

The sisters left the room, Luna taking Swablu with her, and leaving Juniper alone with a sleeping Trubbish and an Earth Pony who was still looking for the right tools.

"Professor!" He called from a supply closet. "Do you think your skin is softer, as hard, or harder than diamonds?"

At that point, Professor Juniper started wondering if her new form knew any moves, and if Teleport was one of them.


	7. Chapter 5

Twilight sighed as she levitated the last book back onto the shelf. Since she had run out earlier that morning in the middle of re-shelving day, she had been forced to quickly put the books back, out of order. She hated that.

The group had arrived at the library without any trouble, since everypony was still hiding, nopony had even stopped them to ask about the Pokémon. Upon arrival, Twilight had remembered the mess she had left and excused herself so she could quickly clean up. "Done." She sighed dejectedly as she opened the door to let the others in.

"So this is an actual tree?" Misty asked as she awkwardly plodded into the room. She still wasn't use to walking on four legs, or with a very large fish-like tail upsetting her balance. If anything, she thought she'd enjoy being a Water-type Pokémon. She did love Vaporeon; back on the Pokémon world, she'd been searching for an Eevee to evolve into a Vaporeon for her Gym team. She even had a Water Stone ready. Togepi waddled alongside her.

"Yes, it is." Twilight answered as she ushered the others in.

"This kinda reminds me of Valerie's Gym in Laverre City." Korrina said as she entered the house. "Just, more books, less Gym."

"What's with all the gyms in your world?" Rainbow Dash asked, settling in one of the reading chairs. "Are a lot of you humans out of shape?"

Gene chuckled. "No, well some are, but not the majority. Pokémon Gyms are places where Pokémon trainers can go and test their skills against a powerful trainer called a Gym Leader."

"Like in a wrestlin' match?" Applejack looked at the Pokémon doubtfully.

"No, more like a… do you have martial arts here?" Gene needed something to compare Pokémon battling with.

"Heck yeah, we do!" Rainbow Dash smiled. "I happen to be a black belt myself."

Gene nodded. "Well think of Pokémon battling as a smaller version of a martial arts tournament."

"So the Pokémon… test their skills against each other? Like Belle and that… Vepis – Vequi – what was it?" Twilight asked.

"Vespiquen." Gene corrected her.

"Yeah, I get that, but where do humans come in?"

"The humans direct the Pokémon, you know tell them what moves to use, basically come up with some sort of strategy." Korrina explained.

"But why would they need to do that?" Fluttershy asked, not liking the idea of the sweet little Pokémon back at her cottage fighting.

"Because… that's what a Pokémon Trainer does." Korrina shrugged. "They train their Pokémon so they become stronger."

"You mean like my martial arts teacher?" The rainbow pegasus asked.

"Sort of." Misty answered. She and Togepi had curled up on a pillow near the foot of the coach. "It's more cooperation than that, you have to trust your Pokémon to do what they think is best, even if they don't always listen to what you say, and they have to trust you to come up with the best strategy."

Twilight nodded, satisfied with this answer, but something about the way she worded it drew her attention. "What do you mean your Pokémon? You've said stuff like that before but what do you mean? Like partners?"

"Yeah." Gene answered, smiling at his mate. "Partners."

Belle smiled back at him.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Okay, how about when the… Trainer and Pokémon aren't in a relationship?"

"Still partners." Korrina answered, smiling at Lucario. "We work together to face whatever challenges come our way."

"And travel." Misty added, fondly remembering her travels. "We go on adventures together, meet new people."

"Alright, but one more thing." Twilight turned to Belle and Gene, sitting together on the couch. "You didn't say anything while Belle was battling, why is that?"

"Well for one thing, I didn't want to complicate the battle since Vespiquen didn't know I was human." He thought for a moment, then continued. "And Belle and I have been together for years, Princess, I trust her to know what to do, and it's a great strategy since other Trainers don't know what's coming, although I can't use that in official battles." He smiled as he remembered the first time he had met Belle, all those years ago.

Twilight smiled and nodded, but still she wondered what Gene was hiding.

"So," Korrina looked around the room. "When do you think these princesses are going to get here?"

"I don't know." Twilight replied, looking out the window. "The royal chariot usually takes about twenty minutes or so, they could fly here themselves in half that time, or they could–"

A blinding light erupted from the center of the room, causing everyone to look away and several of them to scream in surprise. When the light finally subsided the room's occupants looked back to see that the princesses had arrived.

"–do that." Twilight finished redundantly.

Luna blinked once, clearing her eyes of the glare from her sister's teleportation, and saw the strange collection of creatures scattered around the room. "Sister…" Luna eyed Gene's arm blades nervously.

The Gallade noticed the stare he was getting from the Alicorn and once again hid the blades behind his back, cutting open the back of the couch as he did. He smiled sheepishly and apologized. "Heh, heh, sorry, Princess."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at him, as if confused. "Princess!" Twilight ran over to her mentor and hugged her. "I'm glad you're here! This day has been insane; I even had to skip re-shelving the library!"

Celestia chuckled. "It's good to see you too Twilight, but there are more pressing matters to attend to." She turned her attention to the Pokémon. "Are these the Pokémon?"

"Yep," Korrina answered, leaning against one of the book shelves. "That's us, two Lucario, a Gallade, a Gardevoir, a Vaporeon, a Togepi, and a Cubone. Three of whom used to be humans."

Celestia again looked in confusion at the Pokémon. "I thought you said they could speak."

Twilight looked up at the Princess quizzically. "They are speaking… in some way or another. Belle had to cast a translation spell so we could understand them."

"It wasn't a spell." Belle replied. "I'm supporting a translator using my psychic powers, whatever we say goes through me and is automatically translated before being transferred to your minds so you think you're hearing your native language."

Twilight turned to Celestia with a smile. "See?"

"Twilight Sparkle," Luna stepped forward. "Perhaps you are mistaken, but whatever language that was, it was not Equish."

"What?" Twilight deadpanned in confusion. "But Belle just explained what she was doing! It's a psychic translator! This is so weird."

Realization hit the princesses as Twilight began to wonder about the Pokémon's powers. "Did you say psychic?"

"Um, yes?"

Celestia nodded. "That explains it."

"Explains what, Princess?" Twilight asked.

Celestia looked at the newest little Alicorn. "You see, Twilight, over the years Luna and I have studied how magic can affect not only the body, but also the mind. And, being rulers of an entire country, we set special wards to defend our minds from any and all outside intrusion, meaning that your friend's mental abilities will not be able to affect us."

"Well, that makes this a whole lot more complicated." Gene slumped in his seat and his blades slid down with him, tearing open more of Twilight's couch before he pulled them out. "Sorry."

Twilight sighed. "It's fine, just watch where you point those things." Gene nodded and smiled sheepishly at her. She then turned back to the princesses and decided to repeat what Gene had said. "This makes everything a lot more complicated."

"That is not necessarily true." Luna countered the purple princess. "We will simply cast our own translation spell upon them, so that we may understand what they say."

"Those don't normally last very long," Twilight remarked as she remembered studying the spells. "But it's all we've got."

"Excellent." Luna lit up her horn. "Hold still." Her magic exploded in a small shock wave. The wave traveled throughout the library before dissipating as it reached the far wall. While the ponies and Spike felt nothing from the magic, the Pokémon felt something ripple across their skin, as if they had been hit with a blast of warm air.

"What did she do?" Korrina asked.

"That was a simple translation spell." Twilight explained. "It worked, right?"

Celestia smiled and nodded. "Yes, we can understand them now, although as you said the spell will fade before long, and I don't know how long it will last on these Pokémon."

"Well then, we should get started." Gene stood, partially to avoid ripping the couch again. "Greetings, Your Highness, my name is Gene, this is Belle." He gestured to his mate.

"I'm Korrina, and this is Lucario." The gym leader pointed to her partner.

"And I'm Misty," The Vaporeon introduced herself. "And this little cutie is Togepi."

Celestia smiled. "It's good to meet you all." She looked around the room at the various creatures. "I wish we had more time to talk, but I'm afraid we don't have time for idle chit-chat." She turned back to Twilight. "You said you might have a lead on what's causing this?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, but Gene's actually the one who brought it up."

"It's just a possibility." He explained, not wanting to breathe too much hope into this idea. "But it's possible that the legendary Pokémon have something to do with it."

"Legendary Pokémon?" Luna asked. "What makes them legends?"

The look on Belle's face became deadly serious. "They are immortal, one of a kind, immensely powerful beings who control the forces of the universe."

The princesses looked at each other, then Luna said. "Go on."

The shock on the Pokémon's face was evident. "'Go on?' Did you not hear what I just told you?"

"No, no," The Princess dismissed the notion with a wave of her hoof. "We just want to know what these creatures are capable of."

"There are like fifty-something of them," Gene added. "And they do a lot of different things. Some control fire, water, and other elements, but some control forces like time, space, and order."

Luna was about to say something, possibly about her own powers, but her sister interrupted her.

"A being who controls order?" A devious smile appeared on her lips. "Do tell."

* * *

"_Dragon Pulse!"_ A shock wave blasted through the forest, flattening several trees as it traveled. A lone Timberwolf pounced from its hiding place amongst the shrubbery. _"Enough, Ssshaymin, thisss isss your area of expertissse, do sssomething."_ Zygarde slithered off into the foliage and left the Grass type to deal with the creature.

"_Typical,"_ Shaymin stepped in front of the wolf, stopping it from pursuing the Order Pokémon. _"He gets bored and leaves me to clean up."_ She remembered the occasions on which she had been forced to work with him to clean up the world. She began to release the special pollen from the flowers that grew on her back. As the pollen wafted over to the Timberwolf the creature calmed and ceased its assault. _"Good, I wasn't sure if you were a plant or a living creature."_ Shaymin walked over to the wolf and examined it. _"Hmm, I think I'll keep this one. It might be interesting."_

Shaymin bade the creature to travel to the Hall of Legends and wait for her outside, she could keep it in her room there until later. With the Timberwolf out of the way, Shaymin followed Zygarde deeper into the forest. Originally, the Order Pokémon had been using his powers to rectify the Everfree, and the sections he had converted were now more akin to the Eterna Forest that Shaymin called home. _Use to call home,_ She corrected herself.

While Shaymin had faith in Arceus, she wasn't one hundred percent sure that this was the right course of action. She would have preferred to use her own powers to return the world to its original, unspoiled state. Shaymin had been helping by using her power over nature to reshape the flora so it looked less twisted. But after a short while Zygarde said he felt something that _extruded_ order, and had then began tracking the force to its source, then they had run into the Timberwolf.

When Shaymin finally tracked down her fellow legendary she found him staring down the side of an enormous canyon. _"It isss down there."_ He said. _"I feel order there."_ He looked down the side of the crevice and sighed, he began to use his serpentine form to slowly make his way down the cliff face wrapping around various roots and outcroppings. Shaymin looked around the edge of the canyon and sighed.

"_Zygarde?"_ Shaymin said in slight exasperation.

"_Yesss?"_

"_You do realize there are stairs right over there?"_ Zygarde looked to his right and saw the staircase leading to the bottom.

"_...Yesss."_ He lied, slowly making his way over to them. Shaymin sighed and began her own descent. This was another usual whenever she was with him; he was too serious, slightly absentminded, and overall, too sure of himself, but he was her best friend in the world.

When the two legendaries finally made it to the bottom of the cavern they found themselves in front of a large cavern from which a strange blue light emanated from within. _"What is it?"_ Shaymin asked.

Zygarde smiled, baring his pointed fangs. _"Only one way to find out."_ He slithered inside and Shaymin followed, as they came around a bend in the cave they were greeted by a blinding flash of blue light, and as the light faded they saw what Zygarde had sensed.

"_Whoa."_

* * *

"So this… Arceus. He is the ruler of your world?" Celestia asked partway into the discussion.

Gene chuckled.

"No, Arceus hasn't been seen in millennia. Some say he's actually a myth, but I don't think so. He's supposed to be trapped somewhere, but no one knows where."

"Then his significance is what exactly?" Celestia had a small understanding of this being but she wanted to hear it herself.

"He created the universe. He's basically a god." Belle explained. This elected a small giggle from the Alicorn. "Is something funny?" Belle asked, upset and confused at the princess's reaction.

"Oh, I apologize. I mean no disrespect, it's just… I myself have been called a goddess, as has my sister, and our mother is often credited with creating this universe."

"Did she?" Twilight asked, inquisitive about her mentor's past.

"No," Celestia answered. "Or she never claimed to at least. My point is that I'm a little skeptical about a being who claims to be that powerful."

"Well," Lucario said, slightly annoyed with the princess's attitude. "While Lord Arceus is gone now, many Pokémon believe it is the truth, that he did exist and that he did create the universe."

Celestia saw the tension in the Pokémon and attempted to end the conversation. "I apologize, but I'm just not one to accept the existence of an actual god. I raise the sun and Luna the moon, and Discord is, despite his insistence otherwise, a _lord_ of chaos, not a god." Celestia thought for a second and then continued. "In fact, I believe a few of these legendaries have exaggerated their powers to gain your respect." Celestia had encountered beings who had done this kind of thing before, and as a result, she had zero patience for those who took advantage of the less powerful.

The Pokémon on the other hand, had zero tolerance for those who disrespected their god. Gene knew how Pokémon could get on this subject and, despite his own annoyance at the princess's doubt, decided to try and change the subject. "Okay, we'll discuss differences in religious belief later. Right now, I think we need to work with what we do know."

"What's that?" Applejack asked.

"That a lot of Pokémon and some humans who became Pokémon are in Equestria."

"And that something crashed in the Everfree." Pinkie added.

"What's the Everfree?" Korrina asked. "And what crashed?"

"The Everfree is a forest, it's just outside of Ponyville." Rainbow Dash answered.

"And we have no idea what crashed… unless you have an idea?" Twilight looked at her mentor in hope that she would know something.

Celestia shook her head and Twilight sighed. "So then no one knows what crashed, but whatever it is it appeared at the same time as the Pokémon did."

"Twilight, does that mean what I think it means?" Rarity asked, already suspicious of the answer.

"Yes," The princess replied. "We're going into the Everfree."

* * *

"I don't get it." Misty looked at the path before her, leading into the woods. "What's so bad about this place?" She had seen plenty of weird forests in her adventures and while these woods were a bit more sinister looking, she couldn't figure out why the ponies were scared of them.

"The Everfree just ain't natural." Applejack explained. "Plants grow."

"Clouds move." Dash said.

"And animals care for themselves." Fluttershy added. "All on their own!" The trio finished together and Misty wondered if they had rehearsed that.

"That sounds pretty normal to me." Korrina said.

"What?" Twilight asked in confusion. "How is that normal?"

"It's how our world works." Gene shrugged. "Are you telling me yours doesn't work like that?"

"No," Celestia said. "We have control over the weather, the plants, the animals, and my sister and I raise the sun and moon respectively."

Gene raised an eyebrow and looked at Belle. _"Hypocritical much?"_ The Gardevoir laughed softly.

"Well, come then," Luna beckoned, beginning the trek into the accursed forest. "If we are to make it to the crashed object before sundown we must hurry."

Everypony's eyes went wide with fear, none of them were hoping to spend another night traveling through the Everfree.

"I hope Togepi and Cubone are alright." Fluttershy and Misty had left the little Pokémon back at Twilight's library with Spike.

"I'm sure they're fine." Misty said with a smile. "Togepi isn't as defenseless as she looks and I bet that Cubone isn't either."

Fluttershy frowned as she remembered what Belle and the others had said about Pokémon having powers, she just had a hard time believing that some of the little cuties at her cottage could do things similar to what Belle had done to the Vespiquen.

"Just how far in do you think this thing is anyway?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know, Pinkie Pie how far did you say this thing was?" Twilight hoped that giving Pinkie more time would allow her to answer clearly.

"Past Zecora's house and the old castle." She replied smiling. "It's past the Tree of Harmony too."

Twilight sighed. "This is going to be a long walk." She pushed through some bushes on the path and froze. On the edge of the path was an old tree with a fork in its trunk, and resting in that fork was the largest snake Twilight had ever seen. It was dark purple and almost as thick as the tree it was resting in, fortunately it appeared to be asleep.

"Twilight, what's wrong?" Celestia followed her pupil's gaze and saw the snake. "Oh my." When Gene saw the creature he looked at it in confusion for a moment before continuing on.

"Sn-sn-sn-sn-SNAKE!" Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs.

Gene stopped and turned back just in time to watch the snake awaken and drop from the tree. "CHARBOK!" It cried at the ponies who had woken it from its nap.

"Belle!" Gene called to his partner as the Arbok splayed its hooded neck, the red and yellow markings suddenly on display as it uncoiled its entire body and made its way towards the ponies.

Belle, Korrina, Misty and Lucario all pushed through the shrubbery and stood beside the ponies, seeing the powerful Pokémon before it, and noticing the Gallade standing behind it, the Cobra Pokémon decided that getting to the ponies would be too much trouble. "Bah!" It slithered off into the thicket, leaving the ponies and Pokémon behind.

"What *GASP* was *PANT* that?" Twilight asked, her heart racing in fear.

"An Arbok." Korrina answered, stepping forward with the other Pokémon. "It's the Cobra Pokémon." She looked at the Alicorn. "Everything alright?"

"Y-yeah," She answered. "I just don't like snakes."

Korrina nodded and decided not to mention that there were three more snake-like Pokémon, one of which was almost twenty feet long.

The group continued without interruption for almost twenty minutes. Which, when you consider where they were and what was going on, was a pretty decent amount of time without encountering something truly scary or strange.

As the group rounded a bend in the path Rarity noticed something. "Does anypony else smell that?" The group stopped and smelled the air, the scent that accosted their nostrils was slightly sweet and was similar to fancy perfume.

"Yeah," Dash said, looking around. "What is that?"

"It smells like morning dew." Celestia said.

"Nay sister, tis more akin to the air at midnight." Luna replied.

"I smell cupcakes!" Pinkie cried, searching for the sweets.

Belle and Gene looked at each other and blushed at the scent they each registered, Korrina took notice and rolled her eyes, looking up slightly as she did.

"Found it." She pointed to a flock of what looked like tiny pink birds resting in the trees.

"More Pokémon?" Applejack ventured.

Gene nodded. "Those are Spritzee. They release a pleasant odor that's different to everyone who smells it."

"So that's why I'm smelling the pages of an old book right now." Twilight commented.

Celestia chuckled softly at her student. One of the Spritzee heard this and opened its eye. "Spritz?" It fluttered down to the group and landed on Rarity's head. Then it looked over her forehead and right into her eyes. "Spritzee."

"Oh, you are so cute!" Rarity grabbed the little creature and nuzzled it. "And you smell just like my favorite perfume."

Luna smiled and thought about how similar the creature was to her pet, whom she had left in her room at the castle at her sister's insistence.

The Spritzee blinked twice, then flew into Rarity's mane and snuggled in before closing its eyes. "Awww." Rarity looked to Gene and asked. "It's not dangerous, is it?"

Gene shook his head. "Nah, Spritzee are usually well tempered, calm little things, if you wanna keep it, it probably won't cause you too much trouble."

Rarity smiled and looked back at the Pokémon resting in her mane. "I think I just might do that."

Not long after that, the group had traveled farther into the Everfree than many of them ever had before, and the forest had become even more twisted, even beginning to unnerve the Pokémon. That is, until they rounded another corner and saw clear woods, comparable to the Eterna forest. The ponies gasped.

"What happened here?" Princess Celestia walked over to one of the trees in the clear area and lit up her horn as she performed a spell to detect the magic within the plant. Her eyes went wide as the results came to her. "Luna, Twilight, come here." The other two princesses walked over to the solar Alicorn.

"What is it Princess?" Twilight asked eyeing her surroundings. "What happened here?"

"It appears," Celestia said, doubting her own answer despite the proof. "That somehow this section of the forest has been cleared of the chaotic magic that is normal in the Everfree."

"How is that possible, sister?" Luna asked, double checking the tree for its magic.

"I... don't know, what I do know is that this section of the Everfree is now working in tune with Equestria's natural magic."

"This is too weird." Twilight said, she turned back to the Pokémon. "Any ideas?"

Belle shrugged. "Only a legendary would be able to do something like this."

"But even I couldn't have done something like this in so little time, or on such a large scale." Celestia gasped in disbelief.

Belle smiled and walked haughtily past the princess, Gene following behind her. "Then perhaps you should rethink your opinion on the legendaries before we run into whichever one did this."

The princess shook her head and followed the Psychic types, eyeing the area as she walked. After almost another hour of walking, the group finally left behind the pleasant clearing of peace and returned to the normal woods. Looking off into the shadowy trees, Gene noticed a pair of eyes staring back at him before they disappeared into the dark.

"How many Pokémon are here?" He asked no one in particular, trying to spot any others.

"I don't know." Belle had likewise been searching, but the unnatural darkness of the forest and the thickness of the woods themselves made it nearly impossible. "But I definitely sensed a powerful Psychic a moment ago, and I mean legendarily powerful." Gene remembered the eyes he had seen not a moment before, almost human in appearance.

A moment later Misty ran up to them.

"I think we're being watched." her voice shook with worry as she peered into the woods.

"We know." Belle nodded. "I sensed it for a moment before it hid itself. I believe one of the legendaries is nearby."

Misty swallowed nervously. "Sh-should we tell them?"

Gene shook his head. "Let's try to not freak out the locals any more than we already have." Misty nodded but kept pace with Belle and Gene, figuring it was safer near the Psychic types who knew what was going on.

It was almost an hour later when the next complication arose.

"I'm bored." Rainbow Dash groaned. She took off and flew ahead of the group. "I'm gonna scout ahead and see if I can spot anything."

"Dash, wait." Before Twilight could finish, her friend flew further down the path. "Dash!" She gave her own groan and began chasing after her. When they finally managed to catch up with the chromatic Pegasus, they found her resting in the branches of a small tree, or she probably thought it was a tree when she landed.

"Hey guys, what took ya?" She noticed the shocked expressions in her friends' faces.

"What's wrong?"

"Rainbow…" Applejack said in a hushed tone. "What are you sitting on?"

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend in confusion. "What do you mean?" She looked down and saw the tree she was in was growing on a little hill, a few boulders jutted from the ground and an unblemished ring of stone encircled the entire thing. Then she noticed the head. "Yahh!" She launched from her place on the creature's back and hovered in the air. "What is that thing?!"

Everypony turned to the Pokémon. "It's a Torterra." Belle answered. The Grass-type thankfully remained asleep. "And I suggest we all stick together from now on so that no one thinks any other Pokémon are part of the scenery. Arceus forbid if we run into a Trevenant." She eyed Rainbow Dash.

"Heh, heh, yeah." Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight, who shot her a disapproving glare. With Belle and the other Pokémon now leading the group, the ponies found themselves wondering just what they were looking for in the first place.

"It could be anything." Twilight said to herself. "A meteor, another Pokémon…"

"A giant temple with several statues atop it." Luna deadpanned. Everypony stared at her for a moment, then she pointed to the enormous temple that was now breaking the tree line.

"Yeah," Twilight stared in awe at the construction. "Or that."

* * *

Jirachi floated down one of the hallways in the Hall of Legends. She smiled as she passed familiar statues, paintings, carvings, and other various pieces of art that lined the temple halls.

The various art pieces had either existed in the ruins of Spear Pillar when Arceus had transferred the entire complex to its current location, either compressing or obliterating several dozen metric tons of dirt, trees and stone in the process, or had been dragged along as he left the world and had placed them here for safe keeping.

_It's been far too long since I visited here_. She thought as she passed an ancient carving depicting Arceus creating the Lake Trio. _Of course I was only free for a week every thousand years_. Jirachi wasn't bitter about her imprisonment, she was merely upset that her imprisoner's choice of prison. Being stuck within a crystal for an entire millennia straight with even Arceus unable to reach her in her enchanted sleep meant she missed a lot and had very little time to catch up. It also meant that, of the legendaries, Jirachi had changed the least over the period of Arceus's imprisonment.

The handful of other legendaries who had been around at the time had all changed somewhat. But since to Jirachi it had been only a few weeks in time, she had changed less over the past millennia than even Arceus had.

Jirachi pondered this as she entered the part of the temple where the legendaries separate rooms were. With so many new legendaries having been added over his period of absence, Arceus had quickly thrown together enough extra space within the temple to accommodate the new members.

Jirachi greeted the few others nearby before entering her own room. She smiled as she saw that it looked exactly how she had left it all those years ago, or weeks ago, depending on how you looked at it. Even the books from the temple's library she had been reading were still in place.

Jirachi was honestly surprised at just how well Arceus had rebuilt and refurbished the temple, not just the hall. Spear Pillar had been the ruins of the Hall of Legends, the legendarie's meeting place, while the Hall of Origin was more of an idea than an actual location. Only Arceus could go there, even during his imprisonment, and he had only done so a handful of times, from there he could only return to his pocket dimension. The area of the Temple that Jirachi was currently in was located beneath the Hall of Legends, and had been located beneath the ruins of Spear Pillar as well, the humans just hadn't considered that an entire _mountain_ could be a single complex.

Jirachi settled on her bed and opened the book she had been reading when she had last been to the temple, an adventure novel written by a Zoroark author from before Arceus's imprisonment, grinning as she found the page still marked. _Just what else has he done?_ She thought, remembering the statues that should have been rubble, the library that should have been dust, and the pool that should have dried up.

Meanwhile, several stories up, Arceus was in the middle of a very important meeting. _"So how have things been in the Sinnoh region?"_ A family meeting. Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, Palkia, Dialga, Celebi, Giratina, Mew, and Arceus were gathered at the front of the meeting table. Mew had returned not long after Arceus had sent her off, saying she wanted to be there for something important. Arceus assumed she meant the reunion he was holding with his direct family. While the Alpha Pokémon loved and cared for all the legendaries, he was especially fond of his children and his grandchild.

Mesprit just shrugged at her father's question. _"Rather dull, really. One of the Trainers a while back was a bit set on catching us."_

"_The one who foiled Team Galactic?"_ Giratina asked.

"_Yeah,"_ Azelf smiled. She and her sisters were thankful for the Trainer's holding back, and they had grown fond of him over the ordeal, but in no way did they want to be captured. _"But once we got him to actually listen to us he stopped trying."_

Arceus smiled. _"I'm glad, if any of you had been captured in my absence..."_

"_Grandpa, don't."_ Celebi had seen how Arceus could get, he had talked with her and Mew a lot during the Team Galactic incident, and they had both seen how the god could get when his children were in danger. Arceus looked to his granddaughter and shook his head.

"_Right, I won't think about that. Thanks, Celly."_ Celebi smiled.

"_Anyway,"_ Her grin turned devious. _"Do you know what happened with Heatran at Reversal Mountain?"_

Arceus already knew the answer, and the Creation Trio had somewhat of an idea, but none of them wanted to interrupt her. Deoxys, on the other hand, apparently had no such quarrels as he rocketed into the room before Celebi could even begin.

"_Apologies, Lord Arceus,"_ He said as he dropped out of his speed form. _"But there is a group of the local sentients, as well as a few Pokémon, on their way here. I thought I should warn you."_

Arceus blinked once before replying. _"Oh, them? I know; in fact they're entering the temple right now."_

"_What?"_ Palkia looked at his father in confusion. _"How did they break the barriers?"_ The temple was protected by ancient wards, recently reset by Arceus, which only allowed Legendary Pokémon to enter the temple. Other beings could, but only with permission or whilst holding one of the objects of power, the Creation Orbs, an elemental plate, one of Genesect's Drives, etc.

"_They didn't."_ Arceus answered. _"I let them in."_

"_Why?"_ Dialga asked, just as confused as his brother.

"_To meet the locals."_ He replied simply. Arceus knew that if his Pokémon were to live in peace in this world, then he would have to sell the leaders on the merits of his plan, or at least make it clear that none of the ordinary Pokémon had anything to do with it.

"_Should we call the others?"_ Uxie looked to her father, quickly figuring out his plan.

"_Soon I think, but not yet."_

Arceus looked to a hall leading to the outside, the one he knew the ponies and Pokémon were coming from, and waited.

He watched as a white Alicorn, her multi-hued mane flowing even in the absence of wind, came into view, soon followed by a midnight blue Alicorn, her star-dotted mane mimicking her sister's.

Princess Celestia stopped as she saw the beings sitting at the table in the center of the enormous room. She looked at the being at the head of the table. His coat as white as her own, the golden ring encircling his body, the sheer aura of awe his very presence demanded, he was obviously the Arceus she had been told of. And yet he only watched her for a moment as she and the rest of the group slowly entered the room. The majority of whom were very, very nervous, especially the Pokémon.

Celestia and Luna stood at the head of the group and stared at the legendaries, none of whom dared to speak before Arceus in this matter. Not wanting to wait any longer, Celestia decided to speak first, if this was to be a diplomatic sort of meeting, then they would have to view each other as equals, right? And yet, something about Arceus just made Celestia feel as though she were intruding upon more than just his home, like she should have waited for him to reveal himself to her. The specific feeling, one Celestia couldn't name, was enough to shake up the princess's usually calm demeanor, and instead of a wise and crowd-hushing introduction, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, co-ruler of Equestria, original bearer to half of the Elements of Harmony, defeater of Discord, and nurturer of the one who destroyed King Sombra, and dispelled Nightmare Moon could only think of one thing to say.

"Hello?"


	8. Chapter 6

Twilight Sparkle was completely flabbergasted. Not because the temple she was in hadn't even been in the Everfree until this morning, not because said temple was seemingly large enough to accommodate the dragon who had nearly smothered Equestria, not even because of the collection of beings at the table before her. She was flabbergasted at her mentor's apparent loss of words.

Arceus, however, was used to newcomers reacting to his presence in such a way. _"Greeting Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,"_ He looked at the rest of the ponies. _"Princess Twilight Sparkle, Lady Rarity, Miss Fluttershy, Cadet Rainbow Dash, Miss Applejack, Miss Pinkamena Pie."_

He turned to the Pokémon with the group. _"Hello, young ones."_ He said with a smile, beings from his own world he could greet with some familiarity. _"And welcome all, to the Hall of Legends!"_ Lightning flashed behind him, causing several of the ponies to shriek, and one to almost faint. Arceus looked back and saw Mew floating there with her paws behind her back, smoke rising from them that looked suspiciously like she had fired a Thunderbolt attack.

"_Sorry,"_ He apologized. _"Mew can be a bit of a prankster at times."_

Celestia finally managed to regain herself and took a few steps forward. "You are Arceus, I presume?"

"_Yes, and these are my sons, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina."_ Each of the legendaries bowed their head as they were introduced. _"My daughters, Mew, Uxie, Azelf and Mesprit, my granddaughter Celebi and this is Deoxys, my fellow legendary, friend and council member."_

"I didn't think they all knew each other." Korrina whispered to her partner. Her Lucario brought her to a kneeling position.

"Apparently they do, now shush." Lucario didn't want to do anything to upset the gods.

"Well, Lord Arceus," Celestia continued, deciding to play it somewhat safe and use some kind of noble title. "As I'm certain you are aware, the citizens of your world have somehow ended up in Equestria, and the presence of this temple leads me to believe that you have something to do with it. Care to explain?"

"She's gonna die, isn't she?" Misty asked Belle as she watched the exchange.

"I don't think so. She doesn't know just who he is. He'll probably forgive her for her insolence."

Arceus smiled at the princess. _"Certainly, Princess, you are correct in your assumption. I alone am responsible for the Pokémon's presence in this world,"_ He looked to Gene, Korrina, and Misty. _"As well as the former humans."_

Celestia was shocked that she got such a clear confession so easily, she was about to question him again but Luna beat her to it. "Why did you do this? What compelled you to move your citizens to Equus?"

"_A fine question, Princess Luna. The answer lies in thousands of years of history and the reasons themselves vary greatly, but the short answer? I sought to protect my Pokémon from the harm that humans have caused since they first imprisoned me, thousands of years prior to these events."_

"You… what?" Celestia had grown used to being opposed by forces attempting to take over Equestria, so this answer actually surprised her.

Arceus sighed. _"It is a long and tiresome story, Princess, but this is the short version. Tired of my meddling in their affairs, the humans locked me, my sons, and a few of the other legendaries away so we could no longer bother them, then they began treating Pokémon less and less like their equals and more and more like tools and slaves. When I finally escaped, I decided to save the Pokémon from whatever fate awaited them should the world have continued on its path."_

"Tools? Slaves?!" The princess turned and glared at the Pokémon members of the group. Gene pulled Belle closer to him and wrapped his arms around her, Korrina put an arm around Lucario's shoulder and smiled nervously, and Misty hid behind the larger Pokémon.

Arceus chuckled at the Princess's assumption, and the Pokémon's reactions. _"Not all humans are that bad, the ones I brought with are the ones I deemed worthy of coming to this world to live in peace."_ Arceus wasn't entirely sure how many humans he had brought with, in his normal mindset he couldn't recall what had happened while he was ultimately powerful.

The answers Arceus gave just brought more and more questions to Celestia's mind, but everything that he said just added up until the Princess could no longer hold back. "So you decided, by yourself, that you would take all the Pokémon on your planet, and whatever humans you deemed 'worthy' and move them to a new world, changing the humans' forms in the process, all of which you did without asking anyone else's opinion?"

"_No, I had the opinion of the other fifty three members of the legendary council, we made a plan, they asked some questions, and then I brought us all here."_

Belle nervously looked around the room, searching for any other legendaries who may have entered.

"But none of the humans or citizen Pokémon had a say in the matter?" Celestia asked, gritting her teeth.

"_No, I couldn't ask every Pokémon on the planet, and humans are relatively stuck in their ways unless you shove them in a new direction."_

The former humans chose to ignore that, but found themselves quite embarrassed being told of their faults by their god.

Celestia shook her head. "What gives you the right to decide the fate of thousands–?"

"_Millions, actually."_ Arceus corrected her. _"The Pokémon aren't only in your country."_

Celestia's eyes went wide. "M-millions of sentient beings without even asking them? Do you really consider yourself a god?"

"_Do I really… heh, heh heh… ahhah ah ahaha!"_ For the first time in over a thousand years, Arceus found himself unable to stop laughing. When he finally regained himself, he turned back to the Alicorn, his voice now dead serious. _"Yes I consider myself a god,"_ He teleported from the chair at the front of the room and reappeared on the ground, he began walking towards the Princesses. _"I created an entire universe from nothing; my sons are the embodiments of time, space, and anti-matter. I am older than the universe itself, and this universe as well. I brought life to a dead planet and created a daughter whose very mind is the pinnacle of creation, who can create an entire species with a single thought, and my other daughters have enough psychic power combined to tear apart the mind of even the strongest immortal, myself not included."_

Arceus was now standing muzzle to muzzle with the solar Alicorn. _"So, yes Princess Celestia, patron of the sun, former bearer to half of the Elements of Harmony, I am a god."_

Celestia stared into Arceus's eyes, and the god let her see a glimpse of what lied behind those eyes; eyes that contained all the knowledge of an entire universe, the secrets of life, time, and space. Eyes that had seen a universe come to life, that had seen the darkness before the light, and Celestia blinked. For her staring into those eyes was like what staring into the sun was like for a normal pony, and he had only just revealed the truth about himself. For a normal pony, or anyone besides Celestia, Luna, and Discord, even that brief glance would have driven them to insanity.

Celestia took a few steps back, rubbing her eyes. It was clear that Arceus was powerful, but Celestia wasn't ready to accept that he was actually a god just yet. "You may be powerful Arceus, but I've met beings who exaggerate their powers to gain followers and fame."

"_And you think I'm a farce,"_ Arceus shook his head and turned around, walking back towards his seat. Celestia smiled, thinking she had gotten him. _"Perhaps a demonstration will change your mind."_

Arceus considered wresting control of the sun and moon from the sisters, but that would be trivial; he considered creating a new galaxy just for show, but they were inside – he'd destroy the mortals in doing so. He smiled as he decided on something simple but meaningful. His eyes glowed golden as he activated his powers over reality, and cut a slice out.

Right before Celestia's eyes, a section of space never existed. Arceus removed a five by five section of space from the space time continuum, no time, no light, no darkness, no anything, it was a void, a pure, empty void. And the Princess could sense it. She had studied time magic enough to sense distortions, and this was no distortion, it was just nothing.

"N-no, that can't be." Celestia stepped away from the hole. "That's impossible."

"_For some maybe,"_ Arceus said, floating the hole in existence around in a circle. _"But not a god."_ Arceus decided to end his demonstration with a bang. He refilled the hole in space with matter, but with new matter, where the hole had been a moment before a miniature star now glowed. And as the ponies watched the star began to grow, and grow, and grow, forcing the ponies and Pokémon back as it grew to be larger than a house, before collapsing into itself and forming a black hole. A black hole which Arceus then turned into a sunflower, which he then floated over to Celestia. _"For you, Princess,"_ He placed the flower in her flowing mane, it should have fallen through but instead it flowed with the rest of her mane.

Princess Celestia looked at Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon smiling at her. And Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, co-ruler of Equestria, original bearer to half of the Elements of Harmony, defeater of Discord, and nurturer of the one who destroyed King Sombra, and dispelled Nightmare Moon fainted.

"Sister!"

"Princess!"

Seven mares rushed to the fallen Alicorn's side, fortunately, however, she was only out for a few seconds.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." she said as she stood herself up, wobbling slightly.

"_Father?"_ Giratina asked as Arceus returned to his seat. _"Was that really necessary…? Or wise?"_

"_Don't worry, Giratina, I just had to prove to the Princesses that I really was as powerful as the legends say."_

"Arceus!" Celestia barked. "I don't care if you are a god,"

"_Nor should you,"_ He countered the sun controller simply. _"I just had to prove it."_

"You cannot just move an entire planet's populace to Equus! You could upset the natural balance, or start a war, or–!" Celestia was too upset to think logically, what she needed was someone who could work with illogic and make it work for them. She needed Discord, but without the Elements, she couldn't cast the spell to summon him, and this was just slightly out of Pinkie's league.

"_I didn't have much of a choice Princess. The humans continued to capture my Pokémon and even some of the legendaries in those accursed Pokéballs."_

"What's a Pokéball?" Luna asked, deciding to take the reins so her sister could calm down.

Arceus was about to explain Pokéballs with a pre-planned ten minute rant, but was interrupted when another legendary entered the chamber. Thankfully, this one probably wouldn't destabilize the already damaged psyche of the Princess.

"_Arceus, are there any Lava Cookies in the kitchen? Heatran is hungry and keeps trying to eat the furniture."_ Keldeo stopped his approach as he noticed the group of mares, all of whom were looking at him. Now, logically, Keldeo knew he was the only one of his kind, he knew that the ponies weren't his own species. Unfortunately, Keldeo wasn't thinking logically when he saw the ponies, especially the pure white unicorn mare with the beautiful deep purple mane.

Keldeo stumbled as he stopped, nearly falling over in the process, but he managed to stop himself. Once he righted himself, he gave a cocky grin and walked over to the ponies and, more specifically, Rarity. _"Hi, I'm Keldeo."_ He introduced himself. _"What's your name?"_

"My name is Rarity," She introduced herself, then sized up the newcomer. "Forgive me for asking, darling, but… are you a pony or a Pokémon?" Rarity remembered Gene saying some Pokémon species were similar to ponies but Keldeo looked _a lot_ like a pony.

"_I'm a Pokémon, but I can see where the confusion is. I may not look it, but I'm a legend, too."_ Keldeo remembered seeing the ponies when Arceus had first shown them back on Earth. _Didn't think I'd meet any of them this soon though._

"What do you want?" Twilight asked in exasperation. "We're in the middle of something."

"_Now, now Princess, as he said, Keldeo is a legendary as well. He has as much right to be here as any of us."_

Rainbow Dash looked at Keldeo doubtingly. "You're a legendary? I thought they were all supposed to be huge and powerful."

"_Powerful, yes."_ Keldeo eyed Celebi and Mew, two of the most powerful legendaries. _"Huge, not always. Mew can beat me, and she's smaller than I am."_

"Can we get back on topic please?" Twilight sighed.

"_Right, sorry."_ Keldeo walked over to the table, but once he reached the edge he turned back to look at Rarity. _"See ya around."_ He turned and ran forward. _"Aqua Jet!"_ Four columns of water shot from the Colt Pokémon's hooves, propelling him upwards and over the table.

"_Show off."_ Mew muttered to herself as Keldeo trotted out of the room.

"Anyway," Korrina stepped forward. "Not to be rude, Lord Arceus, but I understand you deemed us worthy – thanks for that – but why are we Pokémon?"

Arceus looked to the Pokémon. Gene was still holding Belle close to him. _"So you could all live in peace."_ He explained. _"Since some humans were the root of the problems back on Earth, I decided that bringing humans here and leaving them as humans would just invite the problems again."_

"Don't you think that's a little unreasonable?" Luna asked. "If they didn't cause problems before, what makes you think they would now?"

Arceus shrugged. _"It is better safe than sorry. Besides, adding humans would just be another species to deal with,"_ Arceus thought of some of the more dangerous Pokémon. _"And you have enough of those already."_

"Lord Arceus," Misty went to stand next to Korrina. "While I really appreciate the, trust and all, I really would like to be human again. Being a Pokémon just doesn't feel right for me."

"Same here." Korrina agreed. Everyone in the room waited for another voice to chime in. Misty and Korrina turned back to Gene, who was awkwardly staring at the ceiling.

"I'm, actually ok with this." He said when he noticed everyone staring at him.

"What?!" Misty and Korrina shouted together.

"Hey," He held up his arms defensively. "This body means I can actually spend my life with Belle without the constant threat of being arrested."

"Wait a minute." Twilight was trying to process what Gene had just said. "What do you mean, 'arrested?'"

Before the Gallade could explain, a melodic voice chimed in. _"Allow me to shed a little light on the situation."_ In a flash of light, Cresselia appeared in the center of the room. _"Greetings, I am Lady Cresselia."_

The ponies watched in awe as the Lunar Pokémon glided down to meet them. _"If there aren't any objections, I will explain the situation involving young Gene and Belle?"_ She looked to Arceus, who nodded in affirmative. _"Then I won't take up much of your time; you see, little ponies, back on our home world, love is not always as free as it is here. The humans do not find it acceptable for one of their own to love a Pokémon, as Gene loves Belle."_

"What?" Celestia deadpanned. She made it a point to never interfere when it came to love. She left that to her niece.

"_Yes, Princess, I much prefer this world in that aspect. In fact, it was my idea to turn the humans into Pokémon in the first place."_

"So that's what you've been hiding!" Twilight exclaimed. Gene blushed fiercely and looked away. Belle put one hand on his shoulder and smiled at him softly.

Cresselia giggled. _"Don't worry, young ones, as long as you are here, your love will only grow from this day forth."_ Gene and Belle turned to Cresselia, confused at first, but then smiled at her, then at each other.

"Thank you." They said together, the ponies smiled, while the former humans looked like they wanted to kill Gene. Celestia saw this and resolved to let Cadence talk to Gene, Belle, and the Gym Leaders.

"_Well, I won't hold you up any longer."_ Cresselia bowed to Arceus and the others as she took her leave. _"I promised Darkrai I'd meet him in the Hall of Paintings. It'd be rude of me to keep him waiting."_ Cresselia grinned as she left the room.

"Okay, are any more of these guys going to show up?" Rainbow Dash asked, upset that they hadn't made any progress in fixing the problem.

"_Maybe,"_ Arceus said, shrugging. _"My family has free run of the temple, they could all come in here right now if they wanted."_

"STOP!" Celestia shouted. "We're not getting off topic again!" She turned to glare at Arceus. "Arceus, I… understand why you did what you did, I honestly do. Luna and I would have done the same if we had the power you hold and if we were in the same situation, but you cannot transplant hundreds of different creatures to another world without contacting the world leaders in some way first. There are–!"

"_Readily sustainable populations of six hundred and sixty seven species and fifty four singular legendaries, myself included."_ Arceus interrupted absently.

Celestia grit her teeth. "Rules to follow. You could cause mass chaos."

"_And your friend, the so-called lord of chaos, couldn't?"_ He asked.

"Stop interrupting!" Celestia screamed. She took a deep breath and continued. "You have to take the Pokémon back, or put them on another world, you cannot leave them here."

"_You speak for the entire planet then?"_ Arceus asked. _"Don't you think the Griffins would like a say? Or the Saddle Arabians? How about the Zebras? My Pokémon are just as intelligent as your little ponies – well, most of them – and they can be very helpful in many situations, especially when the region isn't as…"_ He paused, looking for the right word. _"Safe as Equestria."_

To prove his point, Arceus projected several possible future images. A pair of Golurk stood outside the gates to the Crystal Empire, a male Pyroar stood between a lion and a pair of Zebra foals, a herd of Hippocampi swum in the wake left by a Wailord, scattering nearby sharks.

"_I think my Pokémon could be a great asset to this world, Princess,"_ He ended the images. _"If you are willing to allow it."_

Celestia didn't answer, mulling over the images she had seen. "And if I refuse?"

"_I'd prefer to stay here peacefully but,"_ He shortened his telepathy to just the princess. _"I care for my Pokémon in the same way you care for your ponies. If you try to force me to put them in harm's way… I'll let you fill in the rest."_

Celestia hung her head. She knew Arceus was right. Not only did she highly dislike the idea of putting other beings in harm's way, Arceus had used her own protective nature against her. If anyone were to threaten her ponies, well, they would know why some considered her a goddess. But Arceus was an actual god. If he would go to the lengths Celestia was willing to go to… being blinked out of existence did not sound like a good way to leave a world.

But Celestia was not willing to cave just yet. She looked up at Arceus. "It appears we have reached an impasse."

"_Have we?"_ He asked deviously. _"Because I think I've already won."_

The solar Alicorn's ear twitched. "How so?"

"_I know you don't want to hurt my Pokémon, the same way I don't want to hurt your ponies. We both would if we had to, but we'd despise ourselves for it for as long as we lived."_ He looked her dead in the eye. _"And we'll both live for a very long time."_ Arceus continued. _"But, since I'm the only one powerful enough to remove my Pokémon from this world, and only with the consent of my children at that, I'd have to agree to do it, which I probably won't. Because you know that in a real battle, and I mean a no holds barred battle, I would win. Which is exactly why you won't take any action against me or my Pokémon unless we attack first."_ Arceus smiled as he finished. _"And if, let's say a Pokémon goes rogue and attacks a village or a hateful pony harms a Pokémon, neither of us would attack the other because we know that you can't judge a group for the actions of one."_

_Game, set, match_. Arceus thought to himself. _"This all adding up to the fact that I want my Pokémon to stay here and you don't have the power to remove them."_

Celestia tried to respond, but just remained silent; the Alpha Pokémon had her hooves tied. He had turned policies she stood by to resolve issues against her, with an audience of her sister and the representatives of harmony present. For the first time since before Discord ruled Equestria, Princess Celestia was beat. But that didn't mean she had to acknowledge it.

"We have the Elements of Harmony," She bluffed. "And Discord." Celestia tried for a last ditch attempt to unnerve the Pokémon.

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"You don't have the Elements, and even if you did, they wouldn't work on me, anyway. As a god, I'm neutral, not evil. And Discord isn't as powerful as me either. Plus, I have a being under my beck and call who embodies the exact opposite of the Draconequus."_ He smiled slyly at the princess. _"A being of order versus a being of chaos, I wonder how that would turn out."_

Fluttershy's eyes went wide as Arceus said this. "Um, Mr. Arceus sir, if it's not too much trouble, could you please not hurt Discord? Like you said, we don't have the Elements to turn him back if your friend turns him to stone."

Arceus turned to Fluttershy. _"Well… I don't think Zygarde would turn him to stone, Miss Fluttershy, but as long as he doesn't cause trouble for me or the Pokémon, then we won't have a problem."_

Luna stepped forward, interrupting Fluttershy's response. "Are you really more powerful than Discord? He seems to control matter as you do."

"_True,"_ Arceus consented. _"Discord and I both have control over the fundamental forces of the universe, but where he controls chaos,"_ Arceus concentrated and collected harmony, chaos and neutral energy and shaped it into a symbol from the humans. A colossal yin-yang symbol filled the center of the room. _"I control all."_ The symbol, made of pure energy, collapsed into itself and became a pebble, which fell to the floor and clattered to a stop in front of the ponies.

Princess Luna looked at her sister. Celestia just shook her head.

"We need to come up with a plan." She whispered to her sister. She then turned to Arceus. "This… is not over, Arceus. I will return, and we will discuss this further." Normally, Celestia wouldn't have left until an agreement could be reached, but she was dealing with an all-powerful being from another world. She needed to go to Canterlot and think strategy.

"_Good, you're welcome here anytime, because, after all,"_ He smiled his mouthless smile. _"We're both immortals. You're welcome to come and visit as well Luna; and Discord too. The Hall of Legends is always open to immortals."_

Celestia grimaced as she turned to leave. _"And one more thing Princess."_ Arceus said, solely to her. _"Whatever issues the two of us have, or will have, as it may be, my family, as well as the other Pokémon, are off limits. Respect that, and I'll treat your own family and the ponies the same. Deal?"_

Celestia suppressed the small grin that threatened to show on her face. _Deal_. she thought, knowing the god would hear it. While Celestia, followed by her sister and the other ponies, began to make their way out of the temple, the Pokémon lingered behind.

"_You wish to ask something, young ones?"_ Giratina asked, noticing them.

"L-lord Giratina," Lucario began with a bow. "We do not wish to question the god's will, but,"

"Is there any way we can be human again?" Korrina asked.

"_I'm afraid not,"_ Arceus said. _"Your old forms were altered as we came here. These bodies read as your forms on a certain level, and I simply… enhanced that. These bodies are truly yours now. Now go, the ponies will need your help."_

"Of course, Lord Arceus." Gene said with a bow. He wanted to get back with the group, mainly because he was pretty sure Misty and Korrina were upset that he didn't agree with them on going back to human.

The Pokémon followed the ponies through the hallway and soon after disappeared from sight.

"_Do you think we can trust her?"_ Uxie asked, considering the situation with Celestia.

Arceus turned and began to walk out of the hall. _"Celestia and I have more in common than she will ever admit, ergo I trust her as much as I would trust myself."_

"_Is that good?"_ Azelf inquired.

"_As long as we understand each other,"_ Arceus said. _"I'm sure she'll be fine."_

* * *

Princess Celestia grumbled angrily to herself as she and the others made their way out of the Everfree, the rest of the group didn't hear much but they made out phrases such as "Stupid god." and "More powerful, my flank."

"She seems upset." Gene commented redundantly.

"Only because _your_ god isn't being reasonable." Twilight snapped. "And he claimed to be more powerful than Celestia."

"He is more powerful than Celestia." Korrina affirmed.

Twilight chose to ignore her and continued walking.

"Speaking of upset," Korrina stepped in front of Gene and held him back with a paw. "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Is it the one in your hand?" He asked, hoping to distract her.

"No," She deadpanned, her voice lacking any amount of humor. "When Misty and I were trying to convince Arceus to turn us back to normal, siding against us didn't help our case."

"Yeah," Misty agreed. "I don't wanna spend the rest of my life as a Vaporeon. I still have a lot of things I want to do. One of them I will never be able to do if I'm like this."

Gene shrugged. "Well, I'm not going to give up a chance at a real life with Belle, sorry."

The former Gym Leaders shot murderous glares at Gene. At this point Belle decided it would be a good idea to step in and defend her mate. She grabbed Gene's arm and pulled him close, giving Misty and Korrina a look that said _"Try anything and I will tear your mind to shreds."_ The former humans backed off, continuing down the path.

"Traitor." Korrina whispered, almost out of earshot.

"Gene," Belle spoke up, turning to the Gallade. "We need to talk."

Gene smiled at her nervously. "What about?"

"Did you really mean everything you said?" She tried not meeting his eyes. "About leaving your humanity behind for me and–?"

Gene tilted Belle's head upward so he was looking her right in the eye. "Belle, there is nothing in this world or any other that I wouldn't do if it would let us be together."

Gene pulled Belle into a deep kiss, one which the Gardevoir gladly met. It was their second real kiss since they had come to Equestria, and the second one Belle shared with the Gallade. It was also the second one to be interrupted by the ponies.

"AAH!" Fluttershy screamed from somewhere up ahead.

"Damn it." Gene muttered, breaking the kiss. "What is it this time?"

Gene and Belle rushed ahead, expecting to find the ponies facing a Gengar or Zoroark, what they found was in fact a Pokémon, but it was significantly worse than a Gengar.

"Hydreigon!"

The Dragon/Dark-type hovered in front of the ponies. Celestia and Luna stood at the front of the group, protecting the rest of the ponies. Lucario, Korrina and Misty stood beside them, although Korrina and Misty were standing behind Lucario.

"What is it?" Celestia asked as Gene and Belle ran to join her.

"Hydreigon," Belle answered. "A Pokémon so powerful, it's considered a pseudo-legendary."

"Can we reason with it?" Luna asked. "It is sapient, is it not?"

"Well, yes but wild Hydreigon are the most vicious Pokémon on the planet." Gene explained. _Where's Iris when you need her?_ He thought to himself.

"We can still try." Celestia stepped forward, determined to make peace with at least one powerful Pokémon today. "Hydreigon!" She called, getting its attention. "I understand-"

The Hydreigon only roared at her. To the Pokémon, her call raised an alarm which it answered with a Hyper Beam.

"Look out!" Belle cried as the Dragon Pokémon blasted its most powerful attack at the Princess. Celestia's eyes went wide and she attempted to raise a force field, but before she was able to, a blurry shape shot from the bushes and intercepted the beam, deflecting the attack entirely.

"HYDREIGON!" The Brutal Pokémon roared in rage and launched itself at the newcomer.

"Sacred Sword!" The Pokémon shot forward and slashed Hydreigon across its body, causing the Pokémon to roar in pain.

Seeing their opportunity to strike, the other Pokémon attacked.

"Aura Sphere!" Lucario shot a blue orb of energy from his paw, it hit the Hydreigon head on, knocking the Dark-type back while the princess' protector continued to slash and hack at it.

"Moonblast!" Belle gathered energy for the attack, but as she fired the lunar powered beam, she felt as if the energy was increased. Likewise Luna felt a momentary drain on her own power from her proximity to the attack. The Hydreigon, already faced with multiple type disadvantages, was thrown backwards as the attack hit.

Celestia stepped forward and faced the Pokémon.

"If you stop now," She warned it calmly. "Then I won't blast you myself."

The Hydreigon, unfortunately, didn't care, and attempted to charge its Hyper Beam again. It was interrupted by a solar laser that sent it flying through the forest and left it unconscious more than a mile from the path.

Celestia smiled, then turned to find the creature that had first defended her. It was directly behind her, its singular eye staring directly at her, as if scrutinizing something she couldn't see.

"You," It said, pointing at her with the shield attached to its right arm. "Are worthy."

The Aegislash bowed before the Princess, leaving her only one question.

"What did it say?"


	9. Chapter 7

"_Zygarde...I really don't think you should be doing that."_ Shaymin warned her friend, who was currently wrapped around the Tree of Harmony like a scarf.

"_But I wish to absssorb the energy."_ He stated.

"_Look, this is obviously that embodiment of harmony that Lord Arceus told us about, I just don't think you should be trying to absorb energy from this world until we're sure it's not going to, I don't know, explode or something."_ Shaymin was worried for her friend's safety but she was also worried about the tree itself. If she could figure out how to make one of those grow… Shaymin smiled at the idea, this world definitely had some flora she would be adding to her personal garden.

Zygarde rolled his eyes. _"Fine,"_ He unwrapped himself and slid back over to Shaymin. _"The tree isssn't giving me anything anyway, but I am coming back here later."_

"_So am I."_ Shaymin said as the pair left the cave and returned to their work. However, only a few minutes after ascending the staircase the legendaries heard something big crashing through the forest, and heading right for them.

"_What do you think?"_ Shaymin asked. _"Dragon? Steel? Rampaging Gyarados?"_

"_No,"_ Zygarde said, sniffing the air with his serpentine tongue. _"I sssmell Grasss."_

"_Well that narrows it down."_ Shaymin said sincerely. There were only a handful of Grass-types that could move as fast as this thing was, and only one that would sound like a tank ramming through the forest.

Moments later an armored porcupine-like creature crashed through the foliage, the Chesnaught stopped in front of the legendaries and bowed. "Lady Shaymin, Lord Zygarde, apologies for the intrusion."

"_All is forgiven, young one,"_ Shaymin assured her subject that he was in no danger. _"But what is the matter? Something dire no doubt."_ Shaymin was surprised at the Pokémon's forwardness, normally Grass-types were much more withdrawn, especially around her.

"Indeed my Lady, for you see, one of the accursed was found wandering this forest earlier, with the combined efforts of myself and many others we were able to force the abomination into an abandoned castle, but not without casualties, it is being guarded closely by several Ghost-types and other Pokémon are combing the forest for other accursed as well as their normal guards." He looked up at the Grass-type patron. "But we are all wondering how even one of them escaped, as well as where we are."

Shaymin sighed, she had a feeling that things like this would be happening a lot in the coming weeks. _"Allow me to explain."_

* * *

"Just one more test?!" Bio Chem whined at the Psychic-type floating near the ceiling of his lab.

"_NO!"_ Professor Juniper was fed up with the Earth Pony's experiments. _"You've poked, prodded and scanned me, all that's left is for you to cut me open and that's not happening!"_

"I'm not going to dissect you." he assured her.

"_Then why do you have a surgical knife?"_

"…You're just full of questions aren't you?" Bio Chem set down the knife in his hoof and went back to one of the screens located around the room.

"_So,"_ Juniper asked, having floated alongside the stallion to look at the screen. _"Have you figured out why I've transformed yet?"_

Bio Chem shook his head and pushed the screen away. "No, and according to these readings your genetic structure is one hundred percent... you called it a Beheeyem didn't you?"

The Pokémon professor sighed and floated over to the table at the center of the room, where she had been having tea with the princesses earlier. Bio Chem continued to fiddle with various machines around the room until one of them started picking up _very_ strange readings. "What in the world?" He took a closer look and was shocked to find that the readings were coming from _inside_ the machine itself. "What's wrong with you now?"

He hit a button on the side of the device, one set to reboot it entirely and remove any unnecessary software. The machine buzzed with electricity and a second later an orange and blue blur shot over his head, singeing his mane and ricocheting off of the walls as it traveled further into the lab.

"OY!" He cried, patting the singed hair of his mane. "You nasty little virus or whatever you are, get back here!" He raced after the thing, which was snickering from the pursuit, leaving Professor Juniper alone with the Trubbish that was still in the waste paper basket.

"Hey," It said to her. "What's going on?"

At that point Juniper decided that chasing something that she probably knew the identity to around a lab with a slightly crazy pony was better than having a conversation with the Trash Bag Pokémon. She floated in the direction Bio Chem had run mumbling to herself. "I swear to Arceus when I find the one responsible for all of this I am going to throttle them." She wondered if she could throttle people without actual fingers.

* * *

"Seriously. What is that?" Celestia had an aching suspicion to the answer but thought it would be rude just to assume.

"Aegislash." Korrina answered. "The Royal Sword Pokémon, and it just said you're worthy."

"Worthy?" Celestia asked in confusion. "Worthy of what?"

"According to history," Gene explained. "Whoever Aegislash recognized was destined to rule… I'm guessing you're the head princess or whatever?"

Celestia looked back at her sister and Twilight, both of whom just nodded, although Luna a little begrudgingly so.

"I suppose so. But so what?"

"Well," Gene continued. "Also according to legend they serve the ruler of the land."

"Why do you know so much about ancient Kalos?" Korrina asked.

Gene shrugged. "I did some research at Shabboneau Castle while I was looking for," His eyes darted to Belle for a second. "Something, and I read a lot of old legends."

"Eh hem." Princess Celestia reminded them that they were explaining something,

"Sorry Princess. Uhh, right. Aegislash recognized the ruler and then served by their side for as long as they lived." Gene summarized the old myths he had read.

"So, this thing," She pointed to the Steel-type still floating in front of her. "Is going to serve as my… sword?" She looked back to Gene.

"Protector, body guard… I think it was a consort in one of the myths. Really, it'll do whatever you want it to do."

"Wait, what did you say?!" Korrina was in disbelief over part of Gene's statement.

"For as long as it lives?" Celestia finished, ignoring the Lucario.

"No, as long as you live." Gene corrected.

Normally Celestia would have laughed at that, but right now, she was not in a laughing mood. "While I don't know how long you Pokémon," She quickly realized her mistake and corrected herself. "Or humans, live, I can assure you, it is _very_ likely that I will outlive this creature unless it is immortal."

Gene smiled and said. "Aegislash is part Steel, part Ghost-type, the only way it can die naturally is if it rusts into nothing... and since it's an ethereal blade that's very unlikely. Ergo, it's basically immortal."

Celestia paused and looked back at the Pokémon, considering the pros and cons of having a living four foot sword with a shield for a body guard. Then she realized something that Gene had just said. "Ghost-type?" She asked. "What does that even mean? And what are all these types you keep mentioning?"

Misty stepped forward and explained. "Well princess, Pokémon are able to tap into the forces of nature and when a Pokémon has an aptitude for tapping into a specific kind of force, they get classified as that type."

Korrina nodded and continued. "There are eighteen different types, most of which involve the elements."

Celestia nodded. "So then this isn't actually an undead spirit."

"…actually," Gene said. "Aegislash are swords possessed by the spirits of dead warriors."

"Oh, come on." Twilight groaned. "I'm willing to believe that all you Pokémon have some sort of special magic, I'm willing to believe that your 'gods' are powerful enough to do this, and I'm willing to believe that somehow that sword is alive." She pointed to the Aegislash, which was still floating at Celestia's side. "But I am not willing to believe that that thing is the spirit of a dead warrior. That's impossible."

"Really?" Misty deadpanned. "You just met a god from another world and you're doubting the existence of ghosts?"

"All-powerful beings and disembodied souls are two entirely different things." she stated.

Gene sighed. "If we find her, remind me to introduce you to my friend, Shauntal. I'm sure she could change your mind."

"Enough arguing about ghosts," Celestia interrupted. "Is there any way for me to get rid of this thing? I'm trying to get the Pokémon _out_ of Equestria, not integrate them."

Gene thought for a moment, then answered. "I really don't know, none of the legends said anything about wanting to get rid of an Aegislash, having one was always a sign of power," He smiled. "I actually tried to catch a Honedge so I could get one but I kept getting interrupted."

The last sentence raised several more questions in Celestia's mind, but she shook her head and ignored them, deciding to focus on the situation at hoof. "I'm just going to talk to it."

She lit up her horn and cast the same translation spell that her sister had back at the library. "Greetings Aegislash," She said. "I am Princess Celestia and,"

The Pokémon caught her off guard by planting itself in the ground, the way a knight would his sword, and holding his shield and its cloth arm in front of its body. "Princess Celestia," It said. "You are truly worthy of the title of ruler, I pledge myself to your service, my Lady."

Celestia blinked in surprise. "Um, thank you, but that won't be necessary, I already have my own personal guards so… you can leave." The princess was honestly hoping the creature would listen to her and do as she asked, today was turning out to be a _very_ disappointing day for her.

The creature shook its head, the entire sword swiveling with it. "That is the one order I am not allowed to follow, my Lady. To abandon my post at your side would lead to the utmost disgrace."

Celestia's eye twitched slightly and she decided to change tactics. "Well… don't you have a family? Or friends?"

The Aegislash developed a forlorn look in its eye and appeared to be trying to remember something. "Friends," He said as if it were a foreign concept "… I believe I had such once, long ago, but I cannot remember."

Belle's eyes went wide with realization and she walked up to the princess. "I would refrain from asking it any questions about anything that might have to do with its past life, we don't know how it will react."

"Point taken." she nodded in agreement. While Princess Celestia had never met a being she would classify as a ghost, she didn't outright doubt their existence, and she still knew next to nothing about Earth or its inhabitants.

"Aegislash," she said, drawing the Steel-type's attention back to her. "I… thank you, for your generous offer, but I honestly have no need for yet another guard."

The Aegislash simply blinked, as if confused. "I cannot leave your side once I have pledged myself to your service." He said as if it were obvious. "To do so would be to break the warrior's code, and would bring about the utmost disgrace."

Celestia sighed, this was getting her nowhere. She turned back to the Pokémon. "Do any of you have any ideas for getting rid of this thing?"

Korrina shrugged. "Exorcism?" None of the others found that very amusing.

"Ghost-type Pokémon are notoriously hard to get rid of," Belle explained. "Even the weaker ones, and Aegislash is by no means, a weak Pokémon."

"You could knock it out and leave it here," Gene continued. "But I think they have some kind of internal radar that leads them to the one they deemed worthy."

Celestia sighed again. "So what you're basically saying is, I'm stuck with this thing?"

"Yeah."

"Pretty much."

"Yep."

They all mumbled in agreement.

"Perfect," Celestia grit her teeth in a grimace that could've been misinterpreted as a smile, if one was looking for a smile.

Almost two hours later the ponies and Pokémon exited the Everfree not far from where they had first entered. The sun was nearing the horizon and Luna was ready to raise the moon as they re-entered the still mostly abandoned Ponyville. The only beings in the street were a few odd little Pokémon. Pidgey, Pidove and Fletchling fluttered from rooftops and in bird baths while Patrats, Buneary and Zigzagoons scampered around in the flower beds, the few fountains they passed had Magikarp, Azurill and even a few stray Poliwag and Surskit living in them, all of them making themselves right at home in the little town.

"Everypony is sure in for a shock tomorrow when they wake up." Twilight remarked as she eyed a sleeping Glameow.

Belle giggled. "If _these_ Pokémon are going to shock them, then I don't want to see their reactions to something like an Onix or a Dusknoir."

Twilight ignored the comment and continued on to her library. When the exhausted group finally reached the library, most of the ponies, Princess Celestia included, collapsed into various seats around the room.

"Spike!" Twilight called. "We're back."

There was a clattering from upstairs and moments later the little drake appeared in the stairwell. "Hey guys," He said nonchalantly. "How'd it go?"

"How did it go?" Celestia asked. "I'll tell you how it went. That… conceited _god_ was no help whatsoever. He admitted to bringing the Pokémon here, but he refused to take them back. And now I have to figure out a way to convince an all-powerful being to get out of this world without him willing me out of existence." She looked Spike right in the eyes. "That's how it went."

Spike took a few steps back. "Uhh... Fluttershy," He turned to his friend. "Cubone and Togepi are asleep upstairs if you wanna see them."

Fluttershy and Misty nodded. "Thanks for looking after them." Fluttershy said as she and the Vaporeon trotted upstairs.

Luna walked over to her sister. "Tia?" she asked, seeing the stress in her sister. "I think it would be best if we were to return to Canterlot, get a good night's rest, and think over this situation more in the morning."

Celestia looked to her sister and, after a few seconds, nodded. "Yes, a good night's rest will calm my nerves… Twilight!"

The purple Alicorn sat up. "Yes, Princess?" She trotted over to her mentor.

"I want you and all of your friends to get a good night's rest, and then be on the first train to Canterlot tomorrow morning."

Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Of course, Princess," Twilight replied, disapprovingly eyeing her friend.

Celestia nodded. "Good… oh," She turned to the Pokémon. "And I want all of you on the train as well."

Korrina, once again leaning against one of the book shelves, rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Gene nodded but, after a moment, asked. "Where are we going to stay tonight?"

The ponies looked amongst themselves. None of them had actually considered that.

"We have an extra room at the farm." Applejack offered.

"And I have a guest room at my boutique." Rarity supplied.

"Boutique?" Korrina asked, raising an eyelid. "No thanks, that uppity boutique in Lumiose won't even let me in unless I quote "put on something a little less... over the top.' Nu uh," She walked over to Applejack and smiled. "Looks like Lucario and I are bunking with you."

Applejack smiled nervously. "Great." She was hoping that Gene and Belle were going to stay with her, partly to make up for acting as she had, partly because Korrina kinda scared her.

"Well then, darlings," Rarity said as she trotted over to Gene and Belle. "It appears you two will be staying with me for the time being." Gene and Belle smiled.

"Wait," Spike interrupted. "What about Misty?"

"Oh, I told Misty she could stay with me," Fluttershy said as she trotted down the stairs, Cubone and Togepi on her back and Misty beside her. "I mean, if that's ok with everyone."

Everyone agreed and after saying their goodbyes the Pokémon and ponies left to head to their homes and temporary residences, leaving the three princesses and Spike in the library with Aegislash.

Luna eyed the creature and leaned over to her sister. "Are we actually bringing it with us?" She whispered.

Celestia looked at the creature and smiled deviously. "Twilight, it has been great visiting, but I'm afraid my sister and I must return to Canterlot at once. We have to come up with a plan for everything after all."

Twilight nodded. "Of course Princess. And don't worry, I'll make sure everyone is on the train tomorrow morning."

Celestia grinned. "Perfect, see you tomorrow, then." She lit up her horn and before anyone else could react the sisters disappeared in a flash of light. Leaving Twilight, Spike, and a very confused sword in the library.

Aegislash stared at the spot where Celestia had been a moment before and, realizing she wasn't coming back, lifted itself several feet off of the ground and pointed itself so it floated parallel to the floor. Before Twilight could ask what it was doing the Pokémon began to spin, much like a compass trying to find north, until it stopped with its tip pointing in the direction of Canterlot.

The Royal Sword Pokémon dropped out of its tracking state and floated over to the door. It fumbled with the handle for a few moments before finally grasping it in its cloth hand and floating out the door in the direction of Canterlot.

"Ok, seriously though," Spike threw up his hands. "What the heck happened?"

Twilight sighed. "It's a long story, Spike."

* * *

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared in the empty throne room in a flash of golden light.

"Do you really think that will stop it, sister?" Luna asked, referring to the Pokémon Celestia had left with Twilight.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Celestia said. "But right now I just want to go to bed, it has been a remarkably long day and I want to be ready to come up with an actual plan tomorrow." She thought back to what Arceus had said to and shown her. "I don't think we're going to be able to win this one with any kind of brute force."

Celestia and Luna walked out of the throne room and down the many halls to where her, her sister's, and, despite her best attempts to remove it, Discord's bedrooms were.

"I just remembered that we left Professor Juniper alone with Bio Chem this entire time." Luna recalled the peculiar scientist pony. "Should we go get her?"

Celestia looked at her sister, pulling off a set of baby-doll eyes that would've made the Crusaders proud. "Fine I'll go make sure she's alright." Luna said, disgruntled.

"Thanks Luna." The sisters parted ways, Luna entering her room so she could exit from the balcony and Celestia continuing down the hallway a bit to get to her room. However as she passed Discord's room she noticed something, a note was taped to the door. Intrigued, Celestia trotted over to the door and read the note.

_Dear, __insert name here__. _

_Please do not enter the room of I, Discord, all-powerful lord of chaos at this date, time, place, and other. It appears that I __have xbegun losing powerx, x__am dyingx, x__am falling in lovex, x__have fallen extremely illx,__ am shedding, yeah that's the one, shedding. It is any extremely uncomfortable experience, especially in the places where I have fur. _

_P.S. Tia, there's a message from the following creatures waiting for you in your room._

_King Halfpaw of Canida_

_Empress Victoria of Griffenhiem_

_King Trotankhamen of Zebrica_

_Princess Amira of Saddle Arabia_

_Cadence and Shiny called_

_Emperor Gold Horn of The Minoan Empire_

_Emperor Carapace of the Changeling Empire_

_Queen Oceania of Marelantis_

_Blueblood keeps complaining about something_

_Empress Serva of Stagland_

_Chief Thunderhooves of the Buffalo clans_

_Think that's about it… K, I gotta go x__take some aspirinx__ shed this old skin._

_With love, Discord._

Celestia scrutinized the letter and then knocked on Discord's door. She wasn't entirely sure, but she was fairly sure that Draconequus didn't shed. "Discord?" She called. "Are you alright?"

There was a thud from inside, followed by a groggy voice that she barely recognized as Discord's. "Tia," he whined. "Didn't you read my note? I'm shedding right now, go deal with the angry letters I piled on your bed."

Celestia reeled back from the door in shock. This was not how Discord usually acted at all. _Maybe he really is shedding_. She thought. She glanced at the door once more and resolved to leave the spirit of chaos to his own devices until tomorrow.

Celestia opened the door to her own room and saw the multitude of scrolls piled on her bed. She sighed, deciding to read them now but to actually respond the next morning. She unraveled the first scroll, from the underwater kingdom of Marelantis, and began to read.

"Well, here we are." Rarity ushered the Psychic-types into Carousel Boutique. "Home sweet home."

* * *

"Wow," Gene marveled at the inside of the building. "This is surprisingly roomy for being inside a carnival ride."

Rarity smiled and gave the pair the rundown of her home. "Fairly simple really, we have the main room where my clients wait, my inspiration room where I work. Then here's the kitchen, the family room and upstairs we have my room and Sweetie's for when she stays over, the guest room, and the bathroom is at the end of the hall." Rarity normally took more pride when showing guests around but she had just spent most of the day tromping through the Everfree. "Make yourselves at home, I'm going to take a quick bath and then hop off to bed. "Ta-ta!" Rarity trotted into her room to take a bath in her private bathroom, leaving the Pokémon alone in the hallway.

"Well then, my love," Gene said with a bow. "Shall we retire?"

Belle giggled. "Oh, I suppose so." A devious grin developed on her face as she led Gene to the guest room. The room was surprisingly roomy for a simple guest room but neither of them complained.

Gene sat down on the bed. "You know, I'm kinda worried about this situation." he said.

"Oh, really?" Belle sat down on the opposite side of the bed and turned to him. "How so?"

Gene sighed. "I don't know what the princesses are planning, but if they somehow force or convince Arceus to put us back on Earth, or if Korrina or Misty or some of the other Trainers that Arceus brought convince him to turn us all human again… I'm finally able to be with you Belle, and I mean _really_ be with you." He looked her right in the eyes. "I don't want to lose that."

Belle smiled at her partner. "Gene, it doesn't matter to me what you are, or where we are, I love you, and nothing will ever change that."

Gene returned her smile after a moment. "I couldn't agree more." Gene pulled the covers over himself and his mate and was settling in when Belle pulled herself on top of him.

"You know," She said with a sultry look in her eyes. "You still have some promises to keep." She kissed him gently and Gene heard the door locking.

The pair reveled in the kiss for a few moments but once Belle broke it Gene voiced more of his concerns. "But what if Rarity-"

Belle shushed him with a finger to his lips. "I put a force field at the edge of the room." She explained. "You know, like what I did at the Pokémon Centers?" She kissed him again. "Don't worry, no one and nothing is getting in or out of here."

Gene smirked and flipped Belle over, pinning her underneath him and electing a small squeak from his mate. "In that case…"

* * *

Princess Luna walked alone through the halls of Canterlot Castle towards her own room. She had just shown Professor Juniper to one of the extra rooms after retrieving her from Bio Chem's lab. She had also given her the summary of the situation and, upon hearing that Arceus was to blame, would have turned white as chalk if she still had blood.

Luna trotted down the hallway to her room and was mildly surprised to see Aegislash floating right outside of her sister's room, guarding the one he proclaimed ruler, Luna was still upset that it had chosen her sister over her.

The lunar alicorn entered her room and walked over to her bed, even without half the city in hiding she rarely had any petitioners to her night court. She wasn't upset about this however, because it just meant she could devote her nights to her most important duty, guarding the dreamscape. And she had a feeling that tonight would be one heck of a night for nightmares.

As Luna activated her own brand of magic and, immersing herself in the flow of magic, exited the material plan for the ethereal plane of dreams, she braced herself for whatever nightmares awaited her. She was utterly shocked.

In the dreamscape, Luna was able to fragment her consciousness so that she could look into the dreams of each pony and see which ones needed more than a simple nudge in a more peaceful direction. This also meant that Luna could fragment herself across the entire planet if necessary, she rarely did this, as it taxed even her magic to its limit. However on this night several things struck Luna as she entered the dreamscape, first and foremost, the sheer magnitude of the creatures dreaming, not just nightmares. There were significantly more creatures dreaming than there had been the night before. With a start Luna realized that these were the Pokémon. Arceus had not lied when he said millions.

The second thing that struck Luna as she hunted through the dreamscape was the number of ponies, Pokémon, griffins, zebras, and every other sapient species on the planet, who were having nightmares. So many that the other countries of Equus were reaching out into the dreamscape and calling the lunar princess' attention to each one.

The final thing Luna noticed was the dark spot. This anomaly interested her the most and thusly she pulled most of her consciousness together to investigate it.

"The Everfree?" She asked aloud in curiosity. "And at the temple no less."

Luna was tempted to ignore the dark void and pass it off as Arceus toying with reality, but the sheer depth to the darkness drew her to it. As she neared the anomaly she realized something, she couldn't sense any of the legendary Pokémon. This struck her as odd because she could always sense living beings in the dreamscape even if they weren't asleep. As she pondered this, Luna's consciousness reached the edge of the void, and she immediately reeled back in fear.

Whatever was generating the void was pure nightmare magic, the darkest of the dream arts. And the most dangerous to control, only one being had ever mastered this art, and she was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony. "I-it can't be." Luna said in fear. "She was born of hatred and powered by nightmares, she is gone."

Luna again neared the void, worried for what she might find, and discovered she was right to do so. The void was reaching outward, shadowy tendrils permeated from the real world to the dreamscape and searched for their next victim. "To infect with nightmares of the most horrendous nature." She ventured.

Luna attempted to breach the darkness with her dream magic, only for her own spell to quickly become infected. She cut off the magic before the darkness could reach her. "It is not the Nightmare." Luna told herself. She had sampled a portion of the darkness as it traveled up her magic beam, the magical signature was completely different from Nightmare Moon's, or Luna's. In fact the Princess of the Night and Dreams had no idea what to make of it.

She pulled away from the void and resolved to confront Arceus about what type of monstrosity he was keeping within the temple. She didn't care how powerful the self-proclaimed god was, the dreamscape was her territory and only she would be influencing it.

Luna moved as far from the void as she could and began her task of cleaning up the mess that had been made. As she did, she saw the dreams of the multitude of beings. The ponies, the Pokémon, and the former humans.

While some of the beings had normal nightmares, most focused on the current issue. She saw ponies running from creatures that she assumed were Pokémon, colossal crows, living rock formations, and what appeared to be a swirling vortex of pain and misery attached to a small stone. She saw Pokémon being chased down by ponies, and griffins and other such creatures, as well as humans, although the main focus of the foreigners' dreams involved loss, confusion and fear. The worst being the former humans' dreams, as most of them had no idea what was going on, and they feared for family and friends, although oddly enough a lot had been placed near each other.

One more thing Luna noticed was the sheer oddity of some of the creatures' dreams. She saw dreams through compound eyes and in colors she couldn't even explain. She sensed dreams that appeared to be shared by two or more beings, being either attached or linked to each other in some way. And, oddest of all, she seemed to see dreams through the eyes of creatures that saw in different dimensions or, on rare and extremely disturbing and migraine inducing occasions, saw _into_ different dimensions. It even appeared that she saw dreams of creatures that weren't alive, or were alive, but were spirits, all in all, it was the single most confusing and stressful night that Luna had experienced since Discord's rule.

It took all night, but she actually managed to make measurable progress in soothing the nightmares and fear, she had to openly reveal herself on more occasions than she ever had before, explaining the situation to confused Pokémon and former humans multiple times. And for once she actually found herself looking forward to the end of her shift.

However as she pulled her consciousness back together and began to return to her physical form, she was interrupted by a familiar voice. _"I believe… that I could have thought this part out better,"_ Arceus sighed and Luna looked around, attempting to spot the Pokémon, wherever he was. _"Thank you, Princess Luna."_ At this point Luna realized that the god's voice was coming from everywhere. Before she could say anything Luna was pulled from the dreamscape as her sister's sun overtook Equestria.

Luna jolted upright in her bed. "What is he going to do now?" Luna asked, slightly fearful of Arceus' next course of action


	10. Chapter 8

Rarity awoke from a rather enjoyable fashion star dream to a peculiar smell, breakfast. "Huh?" She asked groggily, rubbing an eye with a hoof. Normally, whenever she smelled food cooking, it was while Sweetie Belle was staying over, and it was almost always burning, forcing her to put out the fire, eat what her sister had cooked so as to not hurt her feelings, and cook something infinitely more edible later. But this smelled like actual food. "Who could that be?"

"Spritzee." The Fairy-Type fluttered from its resting place on Rarity's night stand and landed on the unicorn's horn. "Spritz."

Rarity smiled at the little Pokémon. "Good morning to you too, Spritzee."

Rarity threw on her robe and trotted downstairs to see who was cooking, Spritzee fluttering after her. She was surprised to see Gene and Belle standing in front of the stove. Gene was holding a spatula and whistling as he flipped pancakes and Belle was setting the table. What surprised Rarity most was that the utensils and plates were floating into place.

"_Good morning, Miss Rarity,"_ Belle greeted her when she noticed the unicorn. _"I trust you slept well?"_

Rarity drew her attention away from the floating tableware and smiled. "Of course darling, and you?"

Belle smiled and turned to Gene, who was still flipping pancakes at the stove. _"It was perfect."_

Rarity looked at the pair quizzically for a moment but shrugged, figuring if anything had happened between them last night she would've heard it. Rarity trotted over to Gene and looked at the pancakes as he flipped the last one off of the stove and onto the pile.

"_Breakfast is served."_ He said with a smile, carrying the plate over to the table.

"Gene dear," Rarity said, eyeing the flapjacks. "Not that I'm ungrateful, very much the opposite actually, but whatever compelled you to make breakfast?"

Gene shrugged and answered. _"I had to make breakfast for my team every morning back on Earth, so I'm kinda used to getting up early."_ He glanced at Belle momentarily and, solely to his mate, said. _"Plus we had to get up early anyway to tidy up."_

The Gardevoir giggled softly, electing another quizzical look from Rarity. Noticing the unicorn's glances Belle decided to get off the subject of last night. _"Anyway,"_ She said. _"What time are we supposed to be at the train station?"_

Rarity took a sip of coffee that Gene had brewed. "Oh, I suppose that Twilight or Spike will be along shortly with the time." This wasn't the first time the group had been summoned to Canterlot. "But in the meantime, I must know dear, where did you get that dress? It is simply marvelous."

Belle looked at the fashionista in confusion. _"It's not a dress."_ She explained. _"It's part of me."_

Rarity's eyes went wide. "Wait, you're saying that your clothes are actually part of your body?"

Belle looked down at herself and then back at Rarity. _"They're not actually clothes, but yes."_

Rarity got out of her seat and walked over to the Pokémon. "Hmm," She picked up one of the sections of Belle's dress in her magic, somehow missing the startled "Eep!" that escaped the Gardevoir's lips and the glare that Gene shot her way. "Smooth, but it doesn't feel like skin at all, and so soft!"

"_Eh hem."_

Rarity looked up at the Fighting-type and noticed his glare and Belle's shocked expression and immediately dropped the dress. "Sorry." She walked back to her seat. "I just get excited about fashion and, as I said, I absolutely love your dress."

Belle sighed. _"It's alright,"_ She smirked. _"Just don't ask me for a sample."_

Rarity and Gene chuckled and the trio turned their attention to breakfast. After a while they began chatting.

"So," Rarity began. "How did you two meet?"

Gene smiled at Belle. _"You wanna tell it? Or should I?"_

The Gardevoir grinned. _"I'll do it."_ She turned to Rarity and held one hand to her temple and the other towards the unicorn. _"If I may."_

"Um… sure?" Rarity was a bit confused as to what was going on, but she thought Belle was going to activate the translator again. As she felt the Psychic-Type touch her mind she quickly realized this was not the case as she was engulfed in a flow of memories.

* * *

Gene's alarm clock went off and the boy groaned, he rolled over and fumbled for the sleep button. After a few more moments he managed to turn off the alarm and he almost went back to bed but after a few seconds he jolted up. "Today's the day."

He jumped out of bed and rushed to his closet, quickly changing into a white jacket and pants before throwing on his hat. After checking himself in the mirror he ran downstairs. His mother, cooking breakfast in the kitchen, heard him and stuck her head into the front room as he rushed for the door.

"Gene," she called. "I know you're excited, but could you at least come have some breakfast first?"

"No time, Mom, the boat leaves soon and I've gotta catch it." Gene grabbed his bag from by the door. "Bye."

"Just one more thing honey," She said as he opened the door and started outside. He stopped and looked back at her. "Happy birthday."

Gene smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Gene closed the door and rushed out into Mossdeep City, he quickly made his way to the dock where two other kids, a boy from Pacifidlog Town and a girl all the way from Dewford Town waited, both of whom had come for the same reason as Gene, to get their first Pokémon.

"Hey," The girl greeted him. "I'm Sue."

"Zachary." The boy introduced himself.

"I'm Gene." He said.

The three explained where they had come from and talked about their plans and hopes. It wasn't long before a boat pulled up to the docks, two people, both dressed in blue with dark black hair, stood on the deck, facing the perspective trainers, anyone could've figured out they were twins after a few minutes in their company. The boy, Tate, had a Lunatone floating by his side, while his sister, Liza, had a Solrock at her side.

"Greetings." They said together.

"And welcome to the first day of the rest of your life." Tate finished.

His sister smiled.

"Forgive my brother," She said. "He can be a bit melodramatic."

"My point still stands." He defended himself. "Now come on," He waved the three fifteen year olds onto the boat. "We have a long way to go."

The excited teenagers got onto the boat and his sister signaled the captain. As the boat started on its trip to its destination the twin Gym Leaders gave a speech they had given many times before but always looked forward to. "Now I'll skip the part about being fifteen and getting your Pokémon, you already know that." Tate explained. "What I want to talk about are the specifics of how we give out Pokémon." The trio leaned in, not wanting to miss even one detail. "We don't."

The shocked and horrified expressions of the group's faces sent Tate into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. His Lunatone snickered along with him. Liza rolled her eyes. "What my brother means is that you don't just get to choose a Pokémon," She looked to the horizon and continued. "We're taking you to a special island that's populated mainly by Psychic-type Pokémon: Cerea Island. There you'll each have until sunset to find and capture your own Pokémon." She turned back to the group. "You can befriend them, or trick them, or bait them, but you'll each only get one Pokéball and a container of Pokémon food to work with, otherwise-"

"Otherwise you'll never be a Pokémon Trainer!" Her brother finished, once again provoking startled responses from the assembled teenagers.

"No," Liza corrected. "You'll either have to wait a month before trying again or get a Pokémon from somewhere else." The group nodded in understanding.

"Now, the Pokémon on this island are actually pretty social, although they're not going to just jump into your arms. If you want their trust, you'll have to earn it." Tate said, finally becoming serious. "But it could be well worth it, there are _a lot_ of different species on this island, and not only from Hoenn, there are Kanto and Johto Pokémon as well, and even a few rarer ones from Sinnoh, Unova and even Kalos."

This got the group excited, getting their first Pokémon was good enough, but getting a rare Pokémon from a region like Unova would be a dream come true. After a few smaller directions the Gym Leaders retired below deck, leaving the hopefully future trainers alone.

"I hope I can find something cute," Sue said with a smile. "Like a Chimecho or a Spoink."

Zachary smirked. "I want something powerful, maybe an Abra or a Beldum as a start."

Gene smiled and stared in the direction the boat was headed. "I just want someone who I can call my partner."

"Aww." Sue cried. Zachary just rolled his eyes.

It wasn't long until an island came into view and, as if sensing that the destination had been reached, Liza and Tate ascended to the deck just as the boat pulled into the small dock.

"Alright, you three," Liza said as they disembarked. "Remember what we said and be back before sundown, with or without your Pokémon."

The group nodded and walked down the path that led to the forest, soon they came to a three way fork in the road. The one on the right led down to a craggy crevice surrounded by forest, the middle one led into dense woodland and upwards to a large plateau and the leftmost path led down to a pleasant lake by a waterfall.

"I'm heading up there." Zachary pointed towards the plateau. "Bet I can find a Beldum up there." He headed down the path leading into the woods.

"Then I'm going that way." Sue ran down toward the lake, where she hoped to find some cute Pokémon near the calm waters. "See you back at the boat!" She cried to Gene as she left.

Gene, now alone, looked down the final path leading into crevice. "Perfect place for Solrock, Lunatone, Beldum," He smiled. "Or Bronzor, if I get lucky."

About an hour later, Gene was walking through one of the little craggy crevices that made up the valley. He had seen no Pokémon save for a few Flying-types that had fled at the sight of him.

"And not even a Natu," He sighed. "This might be harder than I thought. " He walked for a few minutes more and would've continued had something not caught his attention. Above his head and spanning the length of the crevice was a fallen tree, the kind Pokémon used for crossing. And walking across that tree was a tiny green and white figure that Gene recognized as a Ralts.

He smiled at the little Pokémon as it crossed the tree bridge, arms held out in either direction to help keep its balance. Gene watched the little Pokémon for a moment before continuing, it was too high up to risk getting its attention, he didn't want to startle the little creature and make it fall. However as Gene neared the underside of the bridge and the Ralts reached the center a strong gust swept through the crevice, it was only a mild annoyance to Gene but it was a major problem for the Ralts.

Unable to keep her balance in the sudden wind the Psychic-type began to fall, she flailed wildly, trying to keep her balance, but ultimately toppled over and fell into the crevice below.

Gene witnessed the entire thing and gasped as he watched the little Pokémon fall. "No!" Gene dove for the Ralts and intercepted her before she reached the ground. "Gotcha!"

"Ralts?" The tiny Psychic-type looked up at her rescuer.

"You alright?" He asked, placing the Feeling Pokémon on the ground.

"R-Ralts." She answered nervously.

Gene heard the fear in her voice and sighed. "Don't worry," He said, rooting through his bag. "I'm not gonna catch you, not if you don't want me to." He pulled out a cylindrical container and uncapped it. "Hungry?' He asked, holding the food canister.

"Ralts." She answered, she still wasn't entirely sure about the human, but she was hungry. She grabbed the canister and began eating, Gene smiled as she did and decided, since it was almost noon, that he would have his own lunch. He unpacked and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while the Ralts watched his every move.

"Well," He said after finishing his lunch. "I gotta get going, I only have until sundown to find a Pokémon who'll be my partner." He stood up and looked down at the little Psychic-type. "Unless you'd like to join me."

When the Ralts looked away from the human, Gene sighed. "I understand," He began walking further down into the valley. "You can keep that, by the way."

Ralts just watched as the human walked away, confused by the way he acted. Some of the other Pokémon who had been here longer said that a lot of humans just wanted to catch Pokémon, but this one seemed nice. Ralts just shrugged and continued to eat the Pokémon food, unaware of the shadowy figure creeping up behind her.

Meanwhile, further down the path, Gene was still looking for any Pokémon. "Maybe I should've tried harder with the Ralts." He said to himself, he would be beyond disappointed if he had to return without a Pokémon. He was considering scaling the walls of the crevice so he could search the forest, but was interrupted when a childlike cry came from behind him.

"RALTS!" Gene immediately turned around and began to run in the opposite direction.

"Hang on!" He ran until he reached the same bridge he passed previously, and there he saw the same Ralts from before. She was slowly backing away from a Hypno who was advancing on the little Pokémon.

"Hypno." It said threateningly.

"R-Ralts." Gene had no idea what was going on, but he didn't care, he could see that Ralts was scared and he intended to do something about the Hypno threatening her. Neither of the Pokémon had noticed Gene yet, and the boy decided to take advantage of this. Grabbing a branch that had fallen from a tree hanging over the crevice, Gene ran over to the Hypno just as it had backed Ralts into a corner.

"Hypno!" The Hypnosis Pokémon loomed threateningly over Ralts and prepared to strike.

Ralts closed her eyes and covered her head with her tiny hands. "Psy-"

CRACK!

The Hypno's move was interrupted as a club-like branch was broken over his head. The Psychic-type crumpled to the ground and Ralts opened her eyes, seeing the same human from before standing over the unconscious Pokémon holding a broken tree branch.

"You alright?" He asked, worried for the little Pokémon.

"Ralts, Ralts, Ralts, Ralts?" She asked him, gesturing at the Hypno.

Gene took a moment to try and figure out what she was asking. "If you're asking why, I wasn't going to let you get hurt."

He pulled the Pokéball he had been given earlier and looked down at the unconscious Hypno. It was already unconscious, and Liza and Tate had said to use whatever means necessary. Plus starting out with a fully evolved Pokémon would probably give him an advantage.

But as he looked down at the Ralts who was now looking up at him in curiosity he couldn't forget how it had scared the little Pokémon. Then he got an idea and a grin. "Hey, Ralts?"

Ralts looked up at him quizzically. "Ralts?"

"I know I kinda already asked, but I'm gonna do it officially this time." He kneeled down and looked her right in the eyes. "Ralts, will you be my partner Pokémon?"

At first the little Psychic type was going to refuse, but she paused in her rejection, she thought about how nice Gene had been to her. "I don't really know what's gonna happen," he said, noticing her contemplation. "But I can promise you that we'll go a lot of new places, meet people and Pokémon," He looked her directly in the eyes. "And that I'll never leave you behind."

Ralts couldn't help but smile, she could sense that he was being sincere. She looked up at him, Gene was smiling and was holding the Pokéball out to her. "What do ya say?"

Ralts thought for a moment then smiled again. "Ralts!" She ran forward and hugged him.

"I'm guessing that's a yes then?" He asked with a smile.

"Ralts." The little Psychic-Type took a few steps back, she scrunched her nose as she looked at the Pokéball.

Noticing her discomfort Gene smiled and explained. "Don't worry, I won't keep you in there, it's just so no one else can catch you." Gene had no idea how a Pokéball worked, but he was a little uncomfortable with keeping a living creature in a capsule no bigger than a baseball.

"Ralts." Ralts sensed that he was telling the truth and decided to get the unpleasant part over with, she tapped the white button in the center and was engulfed in red light. For a moment she couldn't sense her surroundings in any way, like she was half asleep, but soon a bright white light engulfed her and she was again standing in front of the human.

He smiled and picked her up. "Welcome aboard." He said, placing her on his shoulder. "I'm Gene by the way."

"Ralts." She cried happily. Gene smiled.

"You know," He said as he began walking back to the dock. "I want all my Pokémon to stand apart from others, so I've been thinking of giving you a name." he looked over to her. "But first off, are you a boy or a girl?"

"Ralts!" She cried indignantly.

"Uhhh, girl then?" Gene asked, taking a shot in the dark.

She nodded and crossed her arms, pouting slightly. Gene chuckled. "Alright then, how about Melody?"

"Ralts." She shook her head.

"Um, Emma?"

She stuck out her tongue. "Alright," Gene tapped his chin. "I know!" he grabbed her and held her in front of him. "I'll call you Belle!"

She considered the name for a moment, then smiled. "Ralts!" Belle cried happily as Gene put her back on his shoulder.

* * *

Rarity gasped as the memories faded. "W-what," She shook her head. "What was that?"

"_That,"_ Gene explained. _"Was the first time Belle and I met."_

Rarity looked at the pair in confusion. "But that was, and you were, and you…" Rarity might have been able to form a complete sentence had someone not knocked at the door.

"Rarity!" Spike called. "Twilight says we have to leave soon!"

Rarity sighed. "Tell him I'll be down in a minute." She said to the Pokémon as she trotted upstairs. Her questions would have to wait until later.

* * *

Korrina blinked awake and stretched in the bed Applejack had let her use the night before. She looked around and saw Lucario where he had been the night before, legs crossed at the foot of the bed. The pair had decided last night that the circumstances constituted the necessity that only one of them should sleep in the bed. Lucario had given the bed to Korrina, deciding that his stressed trainer needed it more than he did.

Suddenly a knock at the door jolted the Aura Pokémon awake. "Korrina! Lucario! Time for breakfast!" Apple Bloom called before trotting off.

"Good morning, Korrina." he said as he stood up and stretched. "Big day ahead." In truth, Lucario engaged in this idle chit chat with his trainer every morning, she just didn't understand him.

"Yeah...you think that Princess has a chance of getting Arceus to send us home?" She was certain Arceus was older, more powerful, and was reasonably sure he was wiser than the Alicorn, but since Princess Celestia was their best chance of getting home Korrina was hoping she had a secret weapon, and a plan.

He shrugged. "I don't know. She is powerful; her aura shines like the sun, but she is not as powerful as any of the legendaries whom I've met so far, save for perhaps Lord Deoxys."

"Yeah, but in all fairness, those were the most powerful Pokémon in the world." Korrina grabbed her helmet from where she had dropped it last night. She stepped into her boots/roller skates, which had somehow reshaped to fit her feet. And turned back to her partner, smiling. "Now come on, I want breakfast."

Lucario smiled and followed his partner out of the room. He had known her since he had been a Riolu, and had met her at the same time she had caught him and his rival, the same Lucario who had joined the Trainer who had stopped Team Flare. The pair hadn't been rivals before Korrina had caught them but it had grown between them as they attempted to gain Korrina's favor. But ever since he had left, he and Korrina had grown closer as partners, she used him in battles more, kept him in his Pokéball less, and spent more time training with him.

Lucario was still amazed that a human was strong enough to smash boulders with a single kick. Relatedly, her training had been part of what started his and his rival's rivalry, the fact that their trainer was so… strong had set the two fighting for her attention ever since they had evolved. They both wanted her undivided attention, and two Lucario had trouble sharing anything.

For whatever reason, Lucario couldn't stop thinking about Korrina. It had been that way since the pair had awoken on Sweet Apple Acres the day before.

* * *

Lucario woke up face down in a pile of leaves. "Ugh," He pushed himself up and rubbed his head. "What happened?" The Aura Pokémon looked around in confusion. "This is not Shalour City," Then he saw the being lying unconscious next to him, for a moment he thought it was Korrina, the helmet and boots were the same, but he discarded that idea when he saw the yellow, blue and black coat that matched his own. "And you're not Korrina."

He stood up and walked around to get a better view of the Lucario. It was then that he noticed that it was a _she_. This surprised Lucario because he had never seen a female Lucario before, his species was primarily male. The next thing that surprised him was that she was wearing Korrina's helmet.

"How did you get that?" He asked, not expecting a response.

"Quiet," The Lucario said. "I feel like there's a Noibat in my head."

Lucario reeled back in shock, he recognized that voice. "K-Korrina?"

Korrina opened her eyes. "Yeah, it's me, Shalour City Gym Leader and," She saw her Lucario looking at her, mouth open and eyes wide. "Oh, hey, Lucario," She stood up and looked around. "Who was talking?"

Lucario stood up and looked his trainer right in the eyes, he took a deep breath. "Korrina, is that you?" He was almost certain the answer was yes, his power to see a being's aura was telling him that this Lucario was Korrina, but he had to know for sure.

This time Korrina's jaw dropped. "Sweet Arceus, you can talk?!"

Lucario looked at his Trainer, dumbstruck. "Korrina... something is _really_ wrong."

"You're telling me," She said, shaking her head. "Pokémon aren't supposed to be able to talk."

"Well, they can actually," He corrected. "But only to other Pokémon."

Korrina raised an eyebrow and gestured to herself. "How does that explain this?"

Lucario facepawed. "Korrina, look at your hands."

The Gym Leader looked at her partner quizzically for a moment. "Alright," She said after a while. "But I don't-" Korrina stopped as she saw her hands, well, paws actually. "H-how?" She looked up her arm, and down her body. "I'm a – I'm a –!" She looked to her partner. "Lucario?"

He nodded.

Korrina sat down and held both paws to her head. "What happened last night?" She asked. "I barely remember falling asleep."

"I vaguely remember passing out." Lucario said. "But after that…"

Korrina pushed herself upright. "Well, sitting around here isn't going to solve anything," Korrina was not the type to stand by and let something happen. "We need to find someone."

She looked around and just managed to spot the top of a windmill over the trees. "Come on." She started down towards the direction of the windmill, where she hoped she would find a farm. "No use sitting around like a couple a Cascoon."

Lucario sighed and followed Korrina through the trees. "Same old Korrina." He smiled and looked up at her. "And I wouldn't change a thing about her."

* * *

"Well, howdy, young un's." Granny Smith said with a smile as the Pokémon walked into the kitchen. "Hope y'all slept well."

"Just fine, Miss Smith." Korrina said with a smile. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith all developed confused looks on their faces. "What?"

"Ah think Princess Luna's spell wore off." Applejack explained.

"Lucario?" She asked.

"Yeah, we can't understand a word yer sayin'." Applejack said bluntly.

Korrina's ears drooped. "Luu..."

"Oh don't worry too much now," Applejack said with a smile. "Once we meet up with the others Ah'm sure Twilight can cast the spell again."

Korrina grunted, still upset, but sat down and started eating the breakfast the Apple family member had set for her.

The group sat in silence for most of the meal, with the Apples occasionally talking amongst themselves, but soon after everyone had finished, a knock was heard at the front door. "Oh, thank goodness." Applejack sighed in relief, this morning had turned very awkward, very fast. "Ah'll get it." Applejack trotted to the door and opened it.

"Hi, AJ." Dash greeted. "Twilight sent me to get you, and Korrina, and Lucario. We have to get to the train station."

"Alright," Applejack said. "Just wait here." She ran back inside where Korrina and Lucario were waiting in the kitchen. "Time ta go." The Aura Pokémon nodded and walked past the mare. "Ah should be back soon." She said to her family.

"Just be safe would ya?" Granny Smith said. "It seems like every time ya go away somethin' dangerous always happens."

Applejack smiled. "Ah'll try." She said before trotting out the door.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle exited the Golden Oaks library, saddle bags strapped to her sides, filled with several different books and a few snacks. "Alright," She said, looking towards town. "Let's go".

Earlier, she had sent Spike to get Rarity and had sent Owlowiscious to Rainbow Dash with a note, if everything went according to plan Rainbow would get Applejack and Fluttershy and they would all meet up at the train station.

That still meant Twilight had to get Pinkie Pie from Sugarcube Corner, and thus deal with the multitude of ponies who would doubtlessly have questions. Questions that she, as a princess, would have to answer, something she couldn't do without causing mass panic.

Twilight trotted past a few of the shops on the way to Sugarcube Corner but saw nothing, then as she neared her destination she heard screaming.

"Slurpuff puff puff slur!" Twilight had no idea what was happening, but she broke into a gallop. As she neared Sugarcube Corner, she saw a large crowd of ponies gathered outside the store front. She pushed her way past them all and stopped when she reached the center.

Pinkie Pie was running around in a circle like a mad mare on the run. Except that she wasn't the one on the run. Pinkie was chasing what, for all intents and purposes, looked like a giant cupcake with arms and legs.

After a moment Twilight recovered from the shock. "Pinkie Pie," She called sternly. "Have you been playing with Zecora's potions? Again?"

"No way, Twilight." The Earth Pony called back excitedly. "I just found this giant cupcake at the door this morning, so naturally I figured somepony must've left it for me as a gift," She stopped as she neared her friend. "But once I tried to bite into it, it ran away from me. Weird huh?"

Twilight facehoofed. "Pinkie," She said in exasperation. "You remember how yesterday Gene told us that Pokémon have a lot of different looks?"

"Uh huh."

Twilight waited a moment in case she got the point, then continued. "Do you think that maybe this thing," She gestured to the Slurpuff hiding underneath a nearby table. "Could be a Pokémon?"

Pinkie looked to the Pokémon, then to her friend, then back at the Pokémon, then at Twilight again, then back at the Pokémon. "Oooohhh." She said in realization. "Then I better go apologize."

As soon as Pinkie went to apologize for trying to eat the Pokémon Twilight found herself bombarded by a multitude of questions.

"What is-?"

"What are-?"

"Where-?"

"Time stream!"

"How-?"

"Pinkie sense-"

"One at a time!" She shouted, quieting the ponies. "Now I understand that a lot of… things have… developed in a very short time, but I assure you, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are doing everything in their power to fix this situation." _I hope._

* * *

"Discord! Come out here at once!" Celestia pounded on the Draconequus' door, attempting to rouse the sleeping serpent.

"I do not think he is coming out, sister." Luna said, taking a sip of coffee. "Perhaps we should leave him."

"Not a chance, Luna. You said it yourself. Discord is the only one who comes close to matching Arceus in power."

"Would you like me to chop down the door my lady?" Aegislash asked, attempting to please his master.

Celestia sighed. "No, Aegislash." She was slightly upset that the sword had followed her home, more so that it had been staring directly at the door when she exited her room that morning. "He'll come out, or I'll come in and get him!" Celestia began to pound on the door again, but before she could deliver the first blow the door swung open and Celestia fell face first into the chaos Lord's bedroom.

"What do you want, Tia?" He sounded like he had a cold. "I told you I was busy."

"Discord," She said, walking over to his bed. "Are you… actually sick?" The last time that Discord had gotten sick, he had been faking the blue flu and Luna had bucked him out of Canterlot after he annoyed her with his request for water.

"No," He said, sniffling. "Maybe, I don't know, I've never actually been sick before, but this is a lot like all the times I played sick so I could stay home from school."

"Did you even go to school?" Luna asked.

Discord snapped his talons and pointed at Luna. "That's why it never worked."

Celestia rolled her eyes and walked over to Discord. She scanned him to see if anything was actually wrong with him and was shocked at the results. "You're weak."

Discord shot a glare at the princess. "And you're judgy."

"No, I mean your powers, they're not at their normal levels."

"How is that possible?" Luna wondered aloud. "Even the Elements couldn't weaken Discord, that's why they turned him into a statue."

"I'm not sure but… Discord?" She asked, developing an idea. "How closely are you tied into the natural chaotic forces of Equestria?"

"I _am_ the natural chaotic forces of Equus," Discord replied. "But I think what you mean was how does the natural chaos magic of Equestria affect me, the answer… I just realized something's wrong with the Everfree."

Discord sat up. "Did you two do something with your stupid tree again?"

"No." They answered in tandem, the pair made a point never to mess with the Tree of Harmony unless they absolutely had to.

"Well someone's messing with the forest." Discord stood up, wobbling slightly. "And it's draining my magic."

"How?" Luna asked. "Aren't you chaos incarnate or something?"

"Yes Lulu, I am in fact the embodiment of chaos." Discord frowned. "But that means that all chaos stems from me. And whatever is draining the chaos from the Everfree is causing a drain on my powers because that beautiful forest is trying to draw more power from the source of all chaos, me."

"Oh my," Celestia said, genuine worry in her voice. "Are you going to be alright?"

Discord waved a paw at her. "Of course, once whatever this thing is is done converting the Everfree the forest will lose touch with chaos completely and then it will stop draining me," _Unless I can stop it_. He sighed. "In the meantime, I suppose I'll need something to keep it from draining me any further, some kind of force field or-"

"Bio Chem!" Celestia walked out of the room, once again to bother the stallion, normally she'd go to a Unicorn for a problem involving magic but A.) No one at her school was brave enough to study chaos magic in any form, let alone how to control it. and B.) They'd already bothered him before, why inconvenience anyone else.

"Wait, no!" Discord said, chasing after her. "I said force field, not cutting me open!"

* * *

Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie arrived at the train station to find that Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, Gene, Belle, Korrina, Misty, Lucario, Togepi, and Cubone were already there and waiting.

"Wow," Pinkie said as she trotted up to the group. "This is the biggest group we've ever taken to Canterlot to visit the Princess."

"Yeah." Twilight agreed, suddenly unsure of the prospect of parading a group of unknown creatures through Canterlot.

"Hey, Princess?" Gene walked over to Twilight. "Do you think you could cast that translation spell from yesterday on us? Belle doesn't like to admit it, but supporting a translator on this many... beings, makes her tired."

Twilight smiled. "Of course." She concentrated and cast the spell, it traveled outward in a shock wave as it had last night and hit everyone in the vicinity.

"Thanks." Gene said as he walked back over to his mate.

Twilight watched the group for a moment, then she started to consider what might happen once they all got to Canterlot. _What if somepony calls the royal guards?_ She thought worriedly. Trying to explain getting a bunch of strange creatures into Equestria's capital would be hard enough normally, add in the fact that one of them had swords on its arms…

"Ugh," She groaned to herself. "Why does everything always have to be so difficult?" Before Twilight could consider any other scenarios the train pulled into the station and the conductor stepped out.

"All aboar-" Seeing the creatures standing on the platform scared the poor stallion so bad he tried to run back inside.

"Hold it." Twilight stopped the door with her magic. "We're all heading to Canterlot," She explained. "Are there any cars without any other passengers in them?"

The conductor looked between the princess and the rest of the group for a moment. "R-right this way, please." He gestured the group towards the first car on their left, completely empty.

"Thank you." Twilight said happily. The conductor watched as the six mares, baby dragon and eight Pokémon piled into the car. He smiled at them nervously and then headed to the engine, leaving the group alone.

Once the door behind the conductor had been shut Rainbow and Pinkie started laughing. "Girls," Twilight berated. "That's not funny."

"Oh lighten up Twi," Rainbow chuckled. "Did you _see_ that guy's face? Priceless."

Twilight giggled softly, remembering that stallion's expression when he had seen the Pokémon. "I guess it was a little funny."

Soon after the train started on its journey to Canterlot. "Alright every... body," Twilight said, getting up and beginning to pace. "Once we get to Canterlot we're going to have to get to the palace, hopefully Princess Celestia informed the palace guards of our arrival, but if she hasn't then-"

"Hold up Twi," Applejack interrupted. "Why would you be worried 'bout the guards? Can't you just, ya know, order 'em ta let us in?"

Twilight froze in place. "Oh, um, I didn't really think about that." Twilight's friends all laughed as the violet mare blushed.

"One thing, though." Misty said once the ponies stopped laughing. "How are all the ponies going to react when they see us? Didn't you say they'd freak?"

"Oh, don't worry too much darling," Rarity assured. "Unlike in Ponyville, Canterlot ponies are not as apt to 'freak' when faced with the unusual."

"You sure, Rares?" Rainbow asked. "Because unless you count the Changelings I don't think Canterlot has really been exposed to anything 'unusual.'"

"Please, Dash, these ponies are the very picture of serenity, they've spent years mastering control of their emotions."

"Alright," Dash consented. "But if everypony starts screaming when we get off the train, I'm gonna say I told you so."

The group spent a few more minutes discussing Canterlot but soon fell to chatting amongst themselves. While her friends chatted, Twilight was content to just stare out the window and watch Equestria roll by.

Thankfully, and for the first time in two days, no complications arose in the journey, no Pokémon attacked the train and no one even bothered the group in their car. And as the train pulled into the station Twilight found herself thinking that everything might finally go right.

As Twilight and the others exited the train they were surprised to see that most Ponies seemed to be going about their day normally. "So far, so good." She muttered.

And as the group began their journey to Canterlot Castle it seemed that what Rarity had said was true, until they rounded a corner and encountered their first group of royal guards.

"Hold it still already!"

"I can't, it keeps trying to bite me!"

"Grrrr Ruff! Ruff!"

What Twilight saw were three royal guardsmen surrounding what, to her, looked like a creature that was supposed to be locked in Tartarus. It was wolf-like and almost as tall as a pony. Its coat was pitch black over most of the body, but was bright orange on the muzzle and underbelly. The horns that shot out from where its ears should've been were silver, and looked like they were made of metal, the same substance striped its back and ringed its paw's as well as formed a necklace-like ring around its neck with what looked like a skull. The real clincher was the spiked tail that looked exactly like a demon's.

"Oh, my word." Applejack whispered.

"What is it?" Dash asked, not expecting an answer.

"A Houndoom." Belle explained.

"Let me go!" The Dark Pokémon barked at its would-be captors.

Gene's eyes went wide as he heard the Houndoom speak. "Is that…?"

The Houndoom sniffed the air, as if finding something familiar, and looked over to the group. "Belle?" It asked.

"Fang!" Gene shouted happily. "Come here boy."

"Are you crazy!?" Twilight shouted.

Fang was very confused for a moment, then, smelling the air again, he caught a whiff, just a hint, of a scent he had memorized when he was just a pup, a smell that, to him, meant one thing. Home.

"G-Gene?" He asked in disbelief. The Gallade nodded. "Gene!" Fang's spiked tail wagged happily. The Dark Pokémon looked at the circle of Pegasi around him, and then jumped over the nearest stallion, using his head as a boost, and ran happily over to his Trainer.

"Fang!" Gene shouted as his Pokémon tackled him to the ground, electing a gasp from the ponies, and began happily licking his face. "Ack! Fang it's good to see you, too. Down boy, down!" He said laughing. The Fire-Type leaped off of his trainer and sat obediently next to his longtime trainer and friend.

"Gene?" He asked as his trainer pushed himself up. "Where are we? And why are you a Gallade?"

Gene sighed and patted Fang on the head. "It's a long story, Fang, one that we're probably going to have to recount soon anyway, so-"

"Stand down!" Gene looked up to see the three Pegasus guards who had been attacking Fang standing in front of them, two of them holding swords in their mouths. "Away from the Princess!"

Gene glared at the stallion, he had no sympathy for anyone who tried to harm Pokémon, let alone _his_ Pokémon. "Hey!" He shouted, startling the guards with his ability to speak. "What were you doing to my Houndoom?"

"Gene," Twilight said, walking past the Blade Pokémon. "Let me handle this."

Twilight walked up to the guards as regally as she could, then, to the leader of the group, asked. "What's going on here?"

The guards saluted. "We were attempting to capture a dangerous creature, Your Highness," He pointed to Fang, who cocked his head slightly. "We received several reports about it scaring ponies so we made to remove it."

"Oh come on," Gene said in exasperation. "How could anyone find this face scary?" Fang glared at the Pegasi and growled. Everypony took a few steps back.

"Princess?" One of the guards asked. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about that," She answered. "Just, uh, keep up the good work I guess, but don't attack anymore odd creatures unless you try to talk to them first." Twilight noticed that her statement was about to bring forth more questions. "That's an order."

The guards saluted and cantered off, leaving the ponies alone once again. "Ok," Twilight turned around and looked at Gene, the Gallade was crouched down and petting his Houndoom while talking to him. "What is-?"

"This is Fang, he's a Houndoom and he's one of my Pokémon." Gene answered. "And no, he's not going to hurt you, despite his fierce appearance he's really just a big puppy dog."

Fang rolled his eyes.

Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Alright, just, come on." The group once again set off towards the palace, this time with most of the ponies, save for Pinkie Pie, giving Gene, Belle and Fang a wide berth.

"Finally," Twilight said as the gates came into view. "We're here." Twilight trotted up to the gates and walked past the guards standing in front. She turned back when she heard the sound of metal clinking against metal and saw most of her friends and all the Pokémon being blocked from entering by the guards' spears.

Twilight sighed again. "Let them pass."

"But Princess-"

"That's an order." The last part came out a little harsher than she had intended but it got the point across, and soon the group were inside the castle and being led to the meeting room by a guard who had been waiting for them inside.

"Whoa," Korrina whistled. "This place puts Parfum Palace to shame."

"What's that?" Pinkie asked.

"It's a castle back in the Kalos region." She explained.

The group was silent for a few minutes until they reached the meeting room. "The Princesses are waiting inside." The guard assured before trotting off.

"Why are all the guards identical?" Gene asked absently.

"It's a spell on their armor," Spike explained. "Don't worry, it confused me at first, too."

Twilight smiled, remembering the time she and Spike had spent in Canterlot, and opened the door.

"-Now that should keep you separated from Equus' magical field but keep your own personal magic working at its normal level." Bio Chem explained as he finished strapping an altered magical suppressor around the Draconequus' neck.

Celestia and Luna stood watching the exchange, along with Luna's Swablu, perched on the lunar Alicorn's horn, and Professor Juniper. Once Celestia noticed that the others had arrived she smiled. "Welcome everyone, please come in."

As everyone filed into the room Fluttershy ran over to Discord.

"Discord?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Fluttershy," He said, finally having cleared himself of the sniffles. "Just suffering from a bit of chaos withdrawal is all."

"Not anymore." Bio Chem replied. He looked around the room, eyeing the various Pokémon. "Interesting."

"I hate to be rude," Celestia interjected before the scientist started anything. "But we have a matter of the utmost importance to discuss, so…"

It took Bio Chem a moment to take the hint. "Oh, right, official Princess and heroine business," The stallion trotted over to the doorway. "Bye, Twilight."

"Bye." Twilight replied.

"You know him?" Discord asked.

"We were science partners when I was a filly." She answered, confusing most of her friends.

Before anyone could ask another question Celestia spoke up. "Everyone, I suggest you get comfortable, we're going to be here awhile."

Twilight and the other ponies took seats in various chairs surrounding a large table in the center of the room. Gene and Belle did likewise and Fang curled up between the two. Fluttershy let Togepi and Cubone off of her back and the two baby Pokémon immediately ran over to Spike who was tackled to the ground. Korrina and Lucario sat opposite of Gene and Belle and Korrina picked Misty up and set her on the table. Discord materialized a movie set and a bucket of popcorn.

Seeing everyone gathered gave Celestia new hope that this problem could be solved. "Now-"

The door squeaked open and a nervous looking guard stuck his head in. "P-p-p-Princess?" He stammered. "T-there's something here to s-see you."

"Well tell them-" Celestia stopped when she registered the stallion's choice of words. "Thing?"

She ran to the door, followed by her sister and Twilight, and shoved the doors open with her magic.

The Alicorn's all stopped cold when they saw the creature waiting for them. It was bipedal and just barely humanoid in appearance, but instead of walking on two legs it chose to float several inches off the ground. Its skin was grey and purple and its purple tail swished behind it lazily. Its head was somewhat cat-like and it had a tube reaching from the back of its head to its neck, it had fingers, but instead of normal ones its digits ended in bulbs.

"_Greeting Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle,"_ Its voice was deep and unearthly, which made sense considering. _"I am Mewtwo."_ He looked between the Princesses, judging their various levels of shock. _"Lord Arceus sends his regards."_


	11. Chapter 9

_Why me?_ Celestia thought as she gaped at the Pokémon before her. _Why don't things like this happen to the Griffins or Zebras?_ Of course the Princess didn't voice any of this, instead she stepped forward and greeted the Pokémon. "Greetings Mewtwo, and welcome to Canterlot… how did you get in here?"

The Genetic Pokémon smirked. _"I teleported to Canterlot at my lord's request, and after I… removed a few obstacles outside, your guards let me in."_

Celestia looked to the shaking guard at her side and excused him, and he was out of the room before she even finished her sentence. "What are you doing here?" There was no question she was upset that the Psychic-type had scared her guards. "What does Arceus want?"

"_Lord Arceus believes it would be beneficial if our races had the means to communicate with each other, I'm here to represent the Pokémon in any dealings that occur."_

After a moment Twilight figured out what he meant. "You mean, you're an ambassador?"

Mewtwo nodded. _"I believe that is the term Lord Arceus used."_

Celestia swallowed nervously. "Don't you believe," She began. "That a representative who is… closer to us in appearance would help soothe the transition?" While Celestia did feel that this was true, it was more that she could sense the power radiating form Mewtwo, and after seeing Arceus' display, it made her nervous.

"Yes," Luna quickly agreed. "Like the young stallion we encountered at the temple yesterday… what was his name?"

"_Keldeo, as he is known, is not well suited for this position."_ Mewtwo explained. _"To quote a friend, 'He has great potential, but he is cocky, headstrong and lacks patience.'"_

Celestia shook her head. "Fine," Now she was more eager than ever to start the meeting. "Phalanx!" A Pegasus guard, different from the one who had interrupted the meeting, rounded the corner. "Take Lord Mewtwo," She glared at the Pokémon, who smirked at the title. "To the dignitary wing and give him a room, and whatever else he requires."

"Y-yes your highness," The stallion said, nervously eyeing the Psychic-type. "P-please follow me sir."

Mewtwo smiled and bowed to the Princesses. _"Much obliged, your highnesses."_ Mewtwo floated after the guard but before he vanished from sight, turned back and spoke as if he were still right next to the ponies. _"And I trust that, in the event of an official meeting, you will contact me? I'd hate to have to burst in unannounced."_ The legendary turned back and floated out of sight.

"Now one of them is in the castle." Luna shook her head. "I do not like where this is going, sister."

Celestia just shook her head and turned around, walking back into the conference room, where she was greeted by the sight of Professor Juniper and Gene staring at each other. "What is-?"

She was interrupted when the Psychic-types leapt at each other, electing a gasp from all except Belle and Fang, and grabbed each other in a hug. "Gene!" Juniper cried, breaking away from the Gallade. "It's been too long."

"I know," He sighed. "I would've visited but,"

"I know," Juniper stopped him. "Iris told me what happened." Gene looked away from the professor. "But it's still good to see you!" She said. "And you too Belle."

"Ok, back up," Twilight said to Gene. "What and who is that and how do you know her?"

Gene smiled at the Alicorn. "Everyone, this is Professor Juniper, a Pokémon researcher and a good friend of mine."

"The 'what' is a little complicated," Juniper explained. "I'm currently a Pokémon know as a Beheeyem but I'm supposed to be human, like Gene."

"Another one?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Just how many of you are gonna show up?"

Gene and Juniper looked at each other and smiled.

"I can think of a few more." the Gallade answered. "And to answer that last question, I met Juniper when I spent a few years in Unova, she and a few others found out about me and Belle, they were the first ones who did who didn't turn me into the cops."

Juniper shrugged. "Belle explained the situation to us and we didn't see why we had to."

Belle smiled. When she and Gene had stayed in Unova, those had been some of the best years of their life together.

Celestia ushered her sister and student back to their seats. "As interesting as it would be to hear this story, we really need to get on with this meeting."

Gene shrugged and returned to his seat, Juniper taking the free one beside him.

"Now," Celestia began. "As you all are aware, as of yesterday, Pokémon, including some who used to be humans, appeared in Equestria." She looked around, and seeing no confusion, continued. "What we are here to do is figure out a way to either convince or force Arceus to undo his actions and return everything to normal." Most of the beings in the room nodded, the abstaining members consisted of Gene and Belle. "Does anyone have any ideas?" She asked suddenly, shocking most in attendance. "Because I know nothing about Arceus and could really use some information." She looked expectantly to the Pokémon around the table, most of whom developed a sudden interest in the ceiling.

They had all been confident about helping the Princess when they went into the meeting, but now that they were being asked for information that could possibly lead to someone acting against their god, it was an awkward position.

"Supposedly," Korrina finally answered. "Arceus is a Normal-type Pokémon. That would make him vulnerable to Fighting-type attacks but not much else."

Celestia nodded, and was about to ask about Fighting-Types, when Misty interrupted her. "But Arceus is supposed to have seventeen different plates, one representing each type, that allow him to change his type depending on which plate he's holding."

Celestia sighed. "And that means…?"

"Lord Arceus would be able to nullify or effectively weaken any move to the point where it would do little to no damage." Lucario explained.

Celestia mentally wrote off using any scornful Pokémon or former humans against Arceus. _It was a long shot anyway_. She assured herself.

"Alright," She said. "What else?" None of the Pokémon spoke, but this time the silence was born of ignorance.

"Uhh," Gene rubbed the back of his head. "Legend says he hatched from an egg in a place where there was nothing and created the universe." He quoted his Pokédex.

Celestia looked at them all in disbelief.

"Do none of you know anything about your own god?" She asked.

"Well, until recently no one was a hundred percent sure he existed." Misty explained sheepishly.

"He was imprisoned, I think, in another dimension." Juniper sighed. "But no one has any idea how he got there… well, actually I suppose the other legendaries might but it's not like they'll say anything."

Celestia shook her head. She knew this plan had been a long shot, but she had still hoped that some vital piece of information would come up, now all she knew was that Arceus _could_ be stopped, but no one knew how.

Celestia took a deep breath and decided to come back to that problem later. "Alright," She sighed. "If we can't figure out how to stop Arceus and undo all of this now, then we're going to have to deal with the other Pokémon, so please," She nodded to the assembled trainers, Pokémon, and professor. "Explain."

The Pokémon all looked at each other, with the majority looking to Juniper, after a moment the Cerebral Pokémon floated a few inches out of her chair and began. "Alright, where to begin… any specific questions?"

Twilight smiled giddily and teleported a note pad and paper from somewhere. She had jotted down copious notes from their excursion yesterday and she was excited to have an actual expert answer some of her questions. "I have a few," A list unrolled until it reached the floor, and Discord and the princesses chuckled. Most of Twilight's friends rolled their eyes and the Pokémon gaped. "First off," She began. "How many different kinds of Pokémon are there? I have a rough number thanks to something Arceus said but I wanna be sure."

Juniper smiled. She rarely met someone this enthusiastic about learning. "Counting all the legendaries? There are… seven hundred and twenty one species of Pokémon."

Twilight jotted the number down in her notes. "Next question; you've mentioned 'types' several times. Could you please explain this?"

Gene sighed. He knew they were in trouble now; Twilight was just as enthusiastic about learning about Pokémon as Juniper was about teaching about them. _"We're going to be here for a while."_ he told Belle.

* * *

Darkrai sat alone in his room, thinking about the events that had transpired in the past few days, specifically what had happened last night.

The night had gotten off to a great start, he had met Cresselia in the hall of paintings and the pair had spent their time looking over the paintings of the Sinnoh region, remembering the good times they had shared. As the night had drawn to a close Darkrai had 'walked' Cresselia to her room. Everything had seemed so picturesque, Cresselia looked so beautiful in the fire light and they were entirely alone, but before anything else had happened Darkrai sensed something in the dreamscape. Something that seemed scared, and angry.

Before Cresselia could say or do anything Darkrai had bade her good night and rushed to his room, leaving the extremely disappointed and slightly heart-broken Lunar Pokémon alone.

Darkrai hated himself for doing that to her. But he had a good reason. Darkrai was utterly terrified of the dreamscape, or, more precisely, his relationship with it. Back on Earth, Darkrai had entered the realm of dreams once, in Unova. Her face still haunted his nightmares.

"_She deserves better."_ Darkrai tried to assure himself. _"I would just end up hurting her."_ The Pitch-Black Pokémon was silent for a moment, then he sighed and floated out of his room, making sure Cresselia wasn't around, before floating towards the library. _"I suppose researching the dreamscape couldn't hurt."_ He said to himself. _"Perhaps I can find something about-"_

"_Relic Song!"_ Before the Dark-type could react a blaring fanfare accosted his ears, temporarily disorienting him and causing him to drop to the ground in pain.

When Darkrai finally regained his senses and looked up he was not surprised at who he saw before him. _"Well,"_ Meloetta said, tapping her foot. _"I'm waiting."_

"_What do you want, Meloetta?"_ Darkrai asked, floating over to her.

The Melody Pokémon, in her Pirouette Form, glared at him. _"You know exactly what I want, Darkrai,"_ Darkrai winced. She was definitely angry. Meloetta never acted like this and she almost never used Relic Song as anything other than entertainment. _"Tell me what you did to Cresselia."_

"_I didn't do anything,"_ He sneered. _"We had a lovely evening, then we said our goodbyes, nothing more, nothing less."_

Darkrai tried to escape the Normal-type but she flew in front of him. _"You really are an idiot, you know that?"_

Darkrai growled at her. _"Tread carefully Meloetta,"_ He said, dark energy collecting in his hands. _"Even in that form, you do not want to be hit with my Dark Pulse."_

Meloetta didn't even move. In fact, she acted as if Darkrai had made no threat at all. _"You asked Cresselia out and you didn't even kiss her goodnight."_

"_I will not stand here and be harassed by you."_ Darkrai attempted to turn into his shadow form to escape but Meloetta stopped him again.

"_If you even try that, I swear to Arceus, I will Perish Song you and leave you in Cresselia's room,"_ She smirked as Darkrai stopped cold. _"I'll even wrap you up like a little present, maybe an early Valentine's day gift, hmm?"_ Darkrai pulled himself out of the floor. _"Course she'll think it's from you but-"_

"_Alright!"_ Darkrai didn't need to hear anymore. _"You spent too much time around humans."_ Meloetta had always been a people's favorite when it came to legendaries, she'd even given a few concerts in modern time, although the Sacred Swordsmen had been on guard each time. Her interactions with humans meant that she was a lot more… devious when it came to her plans. The only one that beat her was Hoopa, but she was the Mischief Pokémon. _"What do you want from me?"_

_"I want to help you Darkrai."_ She said, her voice tinged with sadness.

_"No one can help me,"_ Darkrai turned away from her. _"Not even Arceus can help me."_ That part was actually true, because Cresselia and Darkrai had been created to represent stages of the moon, their abilities reflected this. Cresselia, the crescent moon, represented good dreams and peaceful sleep. Darkrai, the new moon, embodied darkness and nightmares. This was just how they had formed. Arceus hadn't wanted Drakrai to have his powers, and he had tried to remove them, to no avail.

Darkrai felt a hand on his shoulder and turned back. _"Just tell her how you feel Darkrai."_ Meloetta practically begged. _"She cares about you, she can help."_

The Dark-type remained silent, Cresselia had tried to help him before, her natural ability, which gave pleasant dream, only weakened his ability for a short while before the two balanced each other out. _"At the very least she could help you with the stress."_

Darkrai shook his head. _"I would just end up hurting her."_ He said. _"I, I don't deserve her. She'd be better off if she never even knew me."_

Darkrai was suddenly hit with a surprisingly powerful Wake-Up Slap. _"Don't even __**think**__ like that! Cresselia loves you, and if you would just admit your feelings to her then you wouldn't be feeling this way!_ Meloetta cried tears in her eyes. The Melody Pokemon couldn't deal with this anymore, she was one of the legendaries who represented peace, and her songs were meant to cheer people up, depression didn't suit her.

"_If you decide you actually wanna talk,"_ She said, dropping out of Pirouette Form. _"You know where to find me."_

Meloetta flew to her room, leaving Darkrai alone in the hall, she needed to cheer herself up, and she had something in her room that would do just that It was one of the many books Arceus had been moving to the temple's library. Meloetta floated into her room and passed a variety of musical instruments and equipment that would make a music academy jealous. Harps, cellos and trumpets sat alongside guitars, sound tables, and even a grand piano, odder instruments, accordions, xylophones, and one man band gear was also placed sporadically around the room and Meloetta once again thanked Arceus for moving her gear when he brought them all here.

Temporarily ignoring the instruments Meloetta settled on her bed and found where she had left off. _"The art of the Heartsong,"_ She re-read the title of the book. _"By Musical Interlude, caused when the emotions of one or more ponies, and in rarer cases Zebras, Griffins and other races, run high enough to affect the natural magic of an area the beings in the surrounding area find themselves unable to resist the pull and join in a song and dance related to the original pony's predicament."_ Meloetta smiled and kept reading. _"In other cases it can lead to a smaller group of creatures to come to a realization about each other, often related to friendship or love."_ Meloetta skipped ahead to the cause section. _"... The predicament must be very important to the being singing, although musically talented and powerful magic beings, (*See, powerful magical beings at front for list) can cause them at will."_

Meloetta re-read the entry. _"Musically talented or magically powerful huh?"_ She said with a grin. _"I know I count for at least one of those."_

Darkrai, still floating limply in the hall didn't know what the Melody Pokemon was doing, and he didn't care. _"They don't understand,"_ He sunk into the floor, shifting into shadow form, and launched off. _"Not even Yveltal or Giratina can understand."_ Darkrai shot through the hallways, faster than most of the other legendaries could have seen. _"Why can't I learn to control this?"_ Ever since his creation, Darkrai had been plagued by his ability. Whenever he was scared, stressed, or nervous, his powers kicked in, and he had been very nervous last night.

Unbeknownst to Meloetta or most of the others, Darkrai had planned to officially begin courting Cresselia the night before, or that's what Virizion had called it when he had asked her for advice, but once the... force from the dreamscape had interrupted he had lost his nerve.

"_What is wrong with me?"_ He asked as he shot out the mouth of the temple, Darkrai flew up the sides and rose from the roof, sitting on the edge and staring into the forest.

"_Maybe Meloetta is right,"_ He said. _"Maybe I should just tell her."_ The Dark-type wanted nothing more than to confess his feelings to her, and it was common knowledge that she wanted the same, so why did he have to hold himself back? _"I don't deserve her,"_ He shook his head. _"I just... GAHHH!"_ A void of darkness pulsed around him. _"Why is this so difficult?!"_ He shouted to the sky.

* * *

Shaymin's ears twitched. _"Zygarde?"_ She looked to her friend, who was currently removing the chaos from a section of woods. _"Did you hear something?"_

"_No."_ He answered simply.

Shaymin sighed as Zygarde continued forward, erasing the chaos magic that permeated the area. Again she released the pollen from the flowers on her back and forced the plants to reshape. _"Pretty sure that I-"_

"_Yah!"_ she heard Zygarde yelp and raced forward, she was surprised to find Zygarde wrapped in what looked like a possessed Frenzy Plant attack. His thick scales prevented them from digging into his skin and his tail was wrapped around a tree to hold him in place. Once he saw the Grass-type he blushed slightly. _"A little help?"_ He asked, electing a giggle from her.

"_Fine."_ Again she released her pollen and the vines immediately stopped squirming. _"Let go."_ Shaymin commanded, the Plunder Vines released Zygarde and coiled loosely around the clearing.

"_Thanksss,"_ He looked at the Plunder Vines, squinted, the shot off in the direction they had come.

"_Wait up!"_ Shaymin had no chance of keeping up with the snake due to her stubby legs. _"Why aren't there any Gracidea flowers here?"_ She asked, panting. When she finally found Zygarde he was uprooting some form of fly trap from which the Plunder Vines came. The plant itself was very calm as the Order Pokémon ripped it to shreds. Shaymin rolled her eyes and walked slowly up to the gruesome scene, she stopped when one of the plants seeds landed in front of her.

She smiled and was going to pick it up, when she smelled something coming from the seed, she leaned in to get a better whiff, then jumped backwards as the scent of chaos entered her nostrils. _"Just like those odd blue plants from earlier,"_ She commented remembering the patch of blue flowers they had encountered and subsequently destroyed.

As Shaymin watched her friend obliterate the passive plant she was unaware that something was creeping up behind her, only once it was several feet behind her did she sense its presence, once she did she jumped and spun around to face... a Blitzle? No, this creature was slightly taller than a Blitzle, but not as tall as a Zebstrika, plus, it wore a fair amount of jewelry and looked decidedly more... feminine. Shaymin could sense no ill intent from the creature, so she decided to greet her, figuring she was probably one of the ponies Arceus had mentioned.

"_Greetings,"_ She said with a smile. _"I am Lady Shaymin and that,"_ She gestured to Zygarde, who had finished destroying the Plunder Plant and was sapping the chaos from the area. _"Is Lord Zygarde. Are you a pony?"_

For a moment the creature didn't speak, then she cleared her throat and, in an accent Shaymin didn't recognize, introduced herself. "My name is Zecora and zebra is my kind, now could you please tell me what I did just find?"

Shaymin smiled. _"Zygarde's been purifying this forest. It's completely polluted with chaos magic."_

Zecora shook her head. "In your friend's quest to change the Everfree, did you stop to consider what the effect might be?"

Zecora has been searching for the cause of the Everfree's trouble since yesterday, when an odd being had come to her home seeking shelter, after her initial shock Zecora had allowed the being entry, then after her recount of how vicious some of the creatures had become, Zecora had gone to find the cause, and hopefully stop it. "In upsetting the balance of magic in the land, you might end up forcing the chaos god's hand."

Zygarde abruptly stopped his process and turned to Zecora, he cocked his head a slithered over to the mare, bending down to look her in the eyes he said. _"Misss Zecora, I asssure you that any attemptsss to return thisss foressst to chaosss will be ssstopped by me."_ He smirked. _"And bessidesss, I do not believe thisss ssso called god isss all he'sss cracked up to be."_

Zecora sighed. "Discord is chaos, embodied and true, if he attacks full power it would be the end of you."

Zygarde chuckled and rose to his full height. _"Well perhapsss my full title will disssuade his attacksss,"_ He smiled down at the little mare. _"I am Zygarde, lord of order and harmony."_ In truth he added the harmony part onto the end because he was pretty sure they were the same and he wanted to impress Zecora. _"Now tell me Misss Zecora,"_ He bent down to her height again. _"Which one alwaysss comesss out on top?"_

* * *

Arceus sat in his pocket dimension, looking over the strings of fate. Problem was there were too many possible outcomes because of the amount of criteria he had to take in. _"Let's see… avoid pissing off Celestia so much that she tries to drop the sun on Equestria due to mental instability, more of an inconvenience, considering I'd have to destroy her."_ Arceus was mainly working to make sure that the worst possible outcomes didn't come about. _"Problematic humans... oh sweet eternity, he's here? I need to talk to Reshiram and Zekrom about this one."_ Arceus slightly regretted taking memories from all the legendaries when collecting the humans, although this specific human wasn't Arceus' least favorite. _"A lot of Gym Leaders and almost eighty percent of the Elite Fours and Champions, the birds' saviors… hmm, all the regional professors? I thought for sure at least one of them wouldn't make it."_

"_You know,"_ A familiar voice came from behind the god. _"You spend an awful lot of time in here for someone who just spent an awful lot of time in here."_

Arceus dropped the lines in his grasp and they disappeared, leaving himself and Mew with nothing in the pocket dimension. _"Sorry, sweetie,"_ The god said. _"With what happened in the dreamscape last night, I thought it might be a good idea to check what the future might hold."_

"_Can't you just send Dialga or Celebi to check?"_ Mew asked. Her brother and niece were experts in time travel. Mew was actually surprised neither of them had known about Arceus' plan.

Arceus shook his head. _"The time stream is completely out of whack at the moment, a fact that has not gone unnoticed,"_ Arceus though for a moment, then looked back to his daughter. _"Neither of them would be able to jump more than a week into the past or a few days into the future, and only for a few hours."_

Arceus knew that once the events involving the Princesses calmed down the future would open up and become clearer, but he feared the Pokémon's very existence in the world had cut the time lines to the past, this was supported by the fact that none of the ponies he had met so far, including the immortals, had even heard of his kind.

This only caused a problem for a few beings who could actually _use_ time travel, but still. Arceus looked over a particularly disturbing future and frowned. With every possible outcome it was nearly impossible to tell which ones were serious. _"You know what, Mew?"_ He asked rhetorically. _"You're right, I have been spending way too much time in here."_ An instant later the pair found themselves back in the Hall of Legends. _"I think it's about time I go and chat with everyone,"_ The god trotted down one of the hallways and called back. _"If any of the locals show up, come and find me."_

Mew sighed and put both her paws to her face, shaking her head. She loved her father, she really did, but he could be so absentminded. The middle of an interspecies issue and went to talk with old friends, plus Darkrai was still on the roof and Cresselia was locked in her room, not to mention Groudon and Kyogre were duking it out in the arena and Rayquaza was becoming impatient about not being in the air. And Suicune still hadn't returned, although considering the Aurora Pokémon's free spirited attitude that wasn't surprising. _"What else could possibly go wro-?"_ Mew stopped herself before she finished, having a god for a father had taught her not to taunt the universe.

* * *

"-But only if the attacks are used together." Professor Juniper finished.

"Fascinating." Twilight said, jotting down yet another piece of information, she was about to ask another question when she realized she hadn't given anypony else a chance. "Does anypony have any questions they'd like answered?"

She looked around the table and was surprised when Rarity spoke up. "Actually I have some, for Gene and Belle."

Everyone who wasn't asleep turned to the pair and saw that Gene was fast asleep and snoozing on Belle's shoulder, the Gardevoir had a small smile across her face but once she registered what was happening she sighed and nudged her mate awake.

"What's that?" Gene asked groggily, jolting awake and, due to his position, slicing an arm blade through the arm of his chair. "Sorry," He said blushing, electing laughs from several members of the audience. "What'd I miss?"

"I have a few questions about those memories you showed me earlier, dear."

"Wait, what?" Twilight asked. "You can share memories?"

Belle smiled. "Psychic-types can do a large variety of things, sharing memories with others is a simple way of telling stories." Sharing memories also had much deeper meanings, but that part came into play between mated pairs, again she couldn't wait to begin teaching Gene how to use his new powers.

While Twilight recorded this information in her notes Rarity asked her first questions. "Well for starters, why did you look so different?" She asked Belle. "It looked like you were a completely different pony – err… Pokémon back then."

"Yeah," Gene said as if it was obvious. "She was a Ralts."

Everyone was silent for a moment then Applejack spoke up. "Look, Ah kinda wanna avoid another session where we try and figure out what the other is askin' so why don't ya just explain, as clearly as ya can, what ya just said."

Belle and Gene looked to each other and shared a few thoughts before Gene looked back at everyone else.

"Belle evolved." Gene said with a shrug. "I don't know what more I can say."

Twilight nearly dropped her notepad.

"That's not possible," she gasped. "Evolution takes hundreds, if not thousands of years. It was first documented by Charles Darwhinny back in-"

"Twi," Applejack interrupted. "Now's not the time fer a history lesson, sugarcube."

"Oh, uh, right, carry on." Twilight blushed.

Gene and Belle were now both very confused. "Ok, let's see... Juniper?"

The Pokémon professor sighed. "Evolution occurs when a Pokémon gains enough energy to trigger a transformation in its DNA, this can occur naturally over time, when a Pokémon becomes physically stronger, or through various external stimuli,"

Celestia listened intently to the Professor's speech, and was once again assured that sending Bio Chem out of the room was the right choice. Twilight was inquisitive enough, but Bio Chem was... unpredictable, especially when it came to genetics. She made a mental note to retrieve the Trubbish from his lab after the meeting.

"Furthermore," Juniper continued. "A Pokémon can only evolve two times in an evolutionary chain, equaling three total forms."

"Exactly," Gene said. "Thanks, Juniper."

"No problem." Juniper settled back in her seat and Gene took over.

"So like Juniper said, a Pokémon can evolve twice, what you saw, Rarity, was the first form of a Gardevoir's evolution. When I first met Belle she was just a cute little Ralts," Belle blushed softly. "After a while she evolved into a beautiful young Kirlia." Her blush grew deeper. "And finally she became the stunningly gorgeous Gardevoir who sits next to me today." Belle was as red as a tomato as Gene finished. "And one more thing, some Pokémon _can_ evolve a third time, it's called a mega evolution but it's only temporary."

"Oh, what Pokémon can Mega evolve?" Twilight asked giddily.

Gene smiled "I'd say about… half of the Pokémon in this room. Lucario, Houndoom, and Gardevoir all have Mega forms."

Twilight nodded and wrote the information down. "Can we see?"

Korrina shook her head. "Sorry Princess, you need a special stone to Mega Evolve a Pokémon, and I lost Lucario's when I came here."

"Same for Belle's." Gene added, when Korrina looked at him in confusion he just replied. "I didn't go to Kalos just to get gym badges."

Twilight's ears dropped. "Oh alright, Rarity, you said you had more questions?"

The fashionista nodded. "Indeed, although really just one more." She again looked to Gene and Belle. "What on Equestria is a Pokéball?"

"Yes!" Luna exclaimed, startling everyone, including the Swablu on her horn, which once again darted into Luna's mane. "Arceus mentioned those yesterday, but was interrupted before he was able to explain."

This time Misty answered. "A Pokéball is a device that allows a trainer to capture Pokémon," Fluttershy developed a worried look on her face. "It's some kind of capsule system and-"

"Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy spoke up. "But what do you mean capture? Does it hurt them?"

"No" Misty assured her. "It doesn't hurt and it just... captures them, I don't know how to explain it."

Belle smiled. "I can show you," She looked to the princesses. "If your highnesses would allow it."

Luna and Celestia looked at each other, then the elder sister nodded. "Alright."

"But if anything feels out of the ordinary," Luna warned. "We will not hesitate to strike."

Belle nodded and, while no one noticed Gene tightened his grip on the arm of his chair, the one he hadn't sliced through. _No one threatens Belle_. A voice in the back of his head whispered.

Before he could do anything Belle's voice spoke in his mind. _"Who do you think we should show them? Fang, Draco, Webber?"_

Thinking over his team of Pokémon for a moment, Gene decided. _"Go with Draco."_

Belle nodded and she activated her powers, feeding the memories of the battle into the minds of every being in the room.

* * *

"Alright, Belle use Magical Leaf!"

"Kirlia!" Belle shot the attack towards her opponent, hitting him full on.

"Viii..." The Vibrava buzzed as it righted itself in the air, then launched its own attack. "Supersonic!"

The sound waves shot towards Belle at an alarmingly fast rate, Gene had just enough time to call out his next command. "Use Teleport!"

Belle disappeared in a flash of light and the Supersonic struck the ground, confusing the Vibration Pokémon, until Belle reappeared behind him and Gene called out. "Now, use Shadow Ball!"

"Kirliii-a!" The Ghost-type move hit Vibrava head on, knocking it to the ground.

"_Now!"_ Belle told her trainer, using her limited telepathic powers.

"Right," Gene reached into his bag and pulled out a red and white sphere, he tapped the button on the center and it expanded from ping-pong sized to baseball sized. "Go, Pokéball!"

He threw the ball towards the Ground/Dragon-type and as it hit the Pokémon was transformed into red light and sucked into the ball. It wriggled once, twice, three times, then after a fourth it dinged.

"Yes!" Gene cried throwing his arms in the air. "We did it." Belle blushed softly. Not many trainers gave their Pokémon as much credit as Gene did. Gene walked over to the Pokéball and picked it up, smiling, and threw it into the air. "Come on out!"

Vibrava blinked his eyes as he landed on the ground. "Vibrava?" He looked at his new trainer quizzically.

"Hi," Gene said with a wave. "I'm Gene, this is Belle,"

"Hello." The Psychic-type greeted the new addition happily.

"And welcome to the team." Gene rubbed his Pokémon's head, causing the Ground-type to smile softly, Pokémon could tell what kind of trainer a human was and, there were definitely worse alternatives to being caught by someone like Gene. "Now before I introduce you to everyone else," Gene continued. "I like to give all my Pokémon names," He smiled, he had had this one planned for a while. "What do you think of Draco?"

* * *

Everyone gasped as the memories stopped, and Gene started to explain. "That's basically how a Pokéball works, you have to weaken-AHH!"

Gene was suddenly knocked out of his chair and tackled to the floor by a surprisingly fast moving yellow projectile. "How. Dare. You." Fluttershy looked Gene right in the eyes. "How dare you take poor little creatures out of their homes and force them to battle! How dare you-EEP!"

Fluttershy suddenly found herself hanging upside down in the air, facing a perturbed looking Belle. "I hate having to repeat myself," She said calmly. "Do NOT harm my mate or I will shred your mind. And I don't want to hurt you Miss Fluttershy." Fluttershy was shocked silent. "Understand?" Belle asked through gritted teeth.

"U-uh huh." Fluttershy nodded nervously.

"Good." Belle placed Fluttershy back in her seat and pulled Gene upright, the Gallade shot a disapproving glare at his mate but it disappeared as she pecked him on the cheek.

"Now then," Gene said as he sat back down. "What the heck?"

"I think Flutters is just a teensy bit mad about what you did to the little buggy thing." Pinkie explained.

"Ok, a.) It's a Vibrava and his name is Draco. And b.) Draco was actually glad I caught him after a while, he told me it was pretty boring in the Hoenn Desert." Gene explained.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Fluttershy on this one darling," Rarity interrupted. "If you are forcibly capturing those poor creatures and forcing them to battle, well it just doesn't seem right!" Most of the others mumbled in agreement.

"Sweet Arceus," Korrina groaned. "You guys sound like those idiots from Unova a few years back." The angry/confused looks Korrina received shut her up.

"Look, I can kinda see where you guys are coming from," Gene consented. "I personally prefer having my team out of their Pokéballs, walking alongside me. But Belle joined me willingly and I kinda rescued Fang, plus have you seen these guys?" He gestured to the Houndoom sleeping between his and Belle's chair. "Do you really think I could keep _him_ under control if he wanted to leave?"

A few seconds passed before someone spoke up. "So if I understand what you're saying correctly," Twilight began. "Then it's ultimately up to the Pokémon to decide whether or not they stay with their… Trainer, and battle?"

Gene nodded. "More or less."

"Still don't seem entirely right to me." Applejack grumbled.

"Which part exactly?" Belle inquired. "The capture? The battling? The idea of a Pokéball?"

"All of it really." The Earth pony answered after a moment. "Doesn't seem natural, what them humans did." Whether Applejack forgot that four of the beings in the room used to be humans, or whether she directly ignored it was unclear.

"Well," Belle began. "Pokémon actually battle with each other naturally so they can become stronger and evolve. As for the Pokéballs, I've never spent much time in one myself but from what I've heard they're not that bad, sort of like taking a nap. And the capturing... while some Pokémon, and humans actually, don't agree with it, it isn't actually that much of a problem. If the Pokémon wants out they can always break out of their Pokéball and run away. Others learn to trust, respect and love their Trainer over time, and for others…" She smiled and placed a hand on her mate's arm. "For others, it's the best thing that ever happened to them."

"Aww." Three voices cried at once, the first, not surprisingly was Rarity, the second, Princess Luna, and the third, almost shockingly, was Discord, whom everyone thought was asleep.

"What?" The Draconequus asked. "Just because I'm the spirit of disharmony I can't have a heart?" To prove his point he reached into his chest and pulled out a heart, making everyone gasp before they realized it was a Hearts and Hooves day chocolate box, the chocolates actually were shaped like hearts.

"Oook," Gene said, slightly mortified. "I'm gonna ignore that. Anyone else wanna say anything?"

Fluttershy sighed. "I still don't like the idea but, I guess if it really is their choice,"

"And you haven't brought any of these orbs with you." Luna added.

"I guess it's kinda alright, maybe." The former humans let out a sigh of relief, although Fluttershy was still largley doubtful of the idea in her mind.

"Well," Celestia said. "I suppose that's more than enough for one day." She eyed Twilight's extensive notes, and thought back to the fact that she had almost tackled Gene herself before Fluttershy took the initiative. "Luna, Twilight… and Discord, meet me in my chambers in an hour,"

"Oh, Tia," Discord swooned falsely. "I had no idea you were into that kinda thing."

While most of the ponies, and Pokémon, looked horrified, Celestia just rolled her eyes and continued. "I have something I need to take care of, but after that we have to discuss some more…" She looked glanced around the room at the amassed beings. "…Delicate matters in private; the rest of you feel free to do as you please, when you are ready just talk to my guards and they will escort you to your rooms, which I've already set aside for all of you. Any questions?"

No one spoke up.

"In that case," Celestia got up from the table. "I have to see a cat about a god."


	12. Chapter 10

Princess Celestia walked through the hallways of Canterlot Castle, normally Celestia tried to maintain an air of serenity while she walked. This time, however, her shoulders were slightly hunched, her face was marred with a scowl, and her ears twitched in either anger of nervousness, probably both.

As the perturbed Alicorn arrived in the dignitary wing of the palace she realized just how little she had planned for this confrontation. "Perhaps I should have asked about this being when the professor was around." She remembered how Keldeo had said that the little legendary… Mew, was more powerful than he was. "Hmm, Mew, Mewtwo... perhaps he's her son?"

Thinking about that just unnerved her even more. "And what type is he?" Celestia sighed as she knocked on the door, regretting that she had not thought of these questions sooner. As soon as Celestia's hoof connected with the door it swung open, revealing that the room was dark save for a few candles flickering around the room. And on the bed, or rather several inches above the bed, Mewtwo sat, or rather floated. Legs crossed and arms folded, as if he were meditating.

Celestia paused a moment before entering. "Greetings… Lord Mewtwo, I'm not interrupting am I?"

The Legendary's eyes snapped open and he studied the princess for a second, as if only just noticing her. _"No."_ He answered, uncrossing his legs and rising to his full height. At almost seven feet tall the Psychic-type would have been just shorter than the Princess, excluding her horn, if he had been standing on the ground. But floating almost two feet off the ground Mewtwo forced Celestia to look up at him, a situation normally reserved for Discord, and a few Minotaurs she had encountered.

Celestia shifted awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say. "I have a few questions," She began. "That I would like you to answer."

"_Then ask."_ He replied rather curtly.

Celestia ignored his tone. "Could you please… tell me a little bit about yourself?" Mewtwo looked genuinely confused at her request and the princess smirked inwardly.

"_I – why do you wish to know this?"_ he asked, as if unwilling to share information about himself.

"All good relationships are built on trust," She explained. "And if you and your kind are here to stay, then we need to begin trusting each other." Celestia was beginning to entertain the idea that she might be unable to bring about the removal of the Pokémon.

Mewtwo knew the princess' logic was sound, he just wasn't used to sharing information about himself. _"I..."_

Celestia could tell the legendary was uncertain, so she decided to take the initiative. "I'll start, my name is Princess Celestia, I'm over a thousand years old and I've been ruling Equestria for most of that, by myself for a good portion, when I was younger I bore the Elements of Harmony alongside my sister Luna, the two of us took control of Equestria after we defeated Discord, the now reformed lord of chaos."

Mewtwo thought for a moment, he didn't want to ruin the chances of peace. _"My name, is Mewtwo, I am the single most powerful Psychic-type Pokémon in existence, although even two of the Lake Guardians could best me. I was… born… only a few decades ago."_

Celestia raised an eyebrow. Mewtwo seemed confused about a few things, specifically retaining to his age. She decided to figure this out in a somewhat roundabout manner. "I can't help but notice that your name, and appearance, share resemblance to another Pokémon I met yesterday, Mew; are you two related?"

Mewtwo clenched one of his hands into a fist. _"In a manner of speaking, yes Mew and I are related."_

Celestia could practically feel the anger coming from the Genetic Pokémon, she decided to change the subject. "So," She began. "What do you think of Equestria so far?"

"_It is… pleasant, and peaceful, and serene. I can appreciate these things."_ Mewtwo was mostly thankful for the fact that it was lacking in humanity. The Psychic-type didn't hate all humans, just the ones who saw him as a savage beast, which was to say most.

Celestia nodded. "And what do you think of Arceus bringing your kind here?" Celestia honestly didn't want to provoke the legendary, she just wanted to see what kind of... creature he was.

"_I support Lord Arceus' decision, I am merely glad that our subjects will no longer be at the mercy of the humans."_

"Were the humans really that bad?" Celestia asked, she had wanted to ask more about the human world at the last meeting but after everything that happened she figured that everyone could use a break.

"_Humans,"_ Mewtwo began. _"Are an interesting race, most Pokémon are more aligned to good or to some form of evil, with some in between, but the humans, they are more grey."_ He shook his head as old memories came to mind. _"They are capable of great goodness, and great evil."_

"And I assume that the humans, or former humans, I should say, are the ones who are more 'good' in your opinion." Celestia asked. In all honesty, Arceus' assumption that he could just pick and choose people to move to Equestria made her angrier than the actual move.

Mewtwo picked up on Celestia's anger, and he frowned. _"Yes, he used the memories of the entire council to create a sort of... itinerary for whom he chose."_

Celestia shook her head. "How can you justify this? You just pick and choose beings to rip from their lives, what happened to the ones left behind?! What about families and friends you have separated!?" Celestia suddenly found herself releasing her pent up aggression onto the Genetic Pokémon, unable to hold it in with this new information.

Mewtwo glared at the Alicorn. _"Princess-"_

"And if your world is as dependent on Pokémon as I have been lead to believe how will those left behind maintain a functional society!? Do you even care what happens to them!? Do you-?"

"_NO!"_ Mewtwo shouted, launching forward and forcing the Princess back as he hovered over her. _"I don't care. I have experienced the cruelty of humans first hand, and I will not feel sympathy for the likes of them!"_ A psychic pulse traveled outward from the legendary, throwing the bedding, a dresser, and several vases and pictures against the wall. Glass broke, wood splintered, and a large crack traveled up the wall.

Celestia took a few more steps back and lit up her horn. "Stop this at once!" She shouted. "Or I will make you!"

Mewtwo, no longer using his psychic powers, turned to the princess. _"Do not threaten me Princess, I am not a being to be trifled with."_

"I have faced worse than the likes of you." Celestia said, certain she was correct.

"_No, you haven't."_

The princess was shocked, the certainty in his words scared her.

"_I am one of the strongest Pokémon on the planet, only Lord Arceus and his children outrank me in sheer power."_

Celestia almost backed away again, but before fear got ahold of her once more, she steeled her nerves, ceased channeling her magic, and stepped forward. "I don't care how powerful you, or the other Legendaries, are. Transplanting the majority of a planet's population could lead to dire consequences." She continued to walk forward until she was face to muzzle with Mewtwo.

"_And leaving the Pokémon in the position they were in could have led to the same."_ Mewtwo countered.

"How?" Celestia asked. "From what I have been told, a good majority of the humans were good-hearted."

"_Yes,"_ Mewtwo conceded. _"One of them even stopped the fight I had with my… mother when we first met."_ Calling Mew his mother was still difficult, even if she technically was. _"But as well you know, the minority can cause the most problems,"_ He gritted his teeth. _"I know this personally."_

Celestia had to admit, he was right. Sombra, Discord, Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon were but four beings but had caused more trouble than any others. "But why did the authorities, or the Legendaries themselves, not remove the problematic humans?"

Names and images flashed through Mewtwo's mind. _Ghetsis, Cyrus, Lysandre... Giovanni._

"_The humans who cause the most trouble are __**extremely**__ difficult to remove."_ He explained carefully. _"They have legions of followers, all devoted to a singular cause. And teams of powerful Pokémon, ones that they have enslaved to their will."_ He shook his head. _"They often pay off the authorities to keep their organizations running and only a few ever dare to oppose them."_

Celestia was shocked. "The authorities? Enslavement?!" She had assumed that the human world had had problems, but if what Mewtwo said was true... "But what about you?" She asked. "Aren't you powerful enough to stop them?"

Mewtwo didn't speak. He didn't want to reveal to the princess that the Legendaries were often the ones at the mercy of the groups. Including himself.

"_We've tried."_

Celestia could tell the Genetic Pokémon was hiding something. "What happened?"

Mewtwo had been training for years to control his temper. Mew and Virizion had helped him, but at times, when he was threatened or angered, he lost control. His past was one of his triggers.

"_If you want to know Princess,"_ He held one hand towards the Alicorn. _"Then let me show you."_

Celestia suddenly felt a powerful mental force assault her mind, she had set up mental wards to stop beings such as Discord and Chrysalis from controlling, or entering, her mind. Even in the dreamscape only her sister could view her dreams. And under Mewtwo's mental attack, those wards cracked like an egg underhoof.

* * *

Mewtwo awoke suddenly. _"Wh-where am I?"_ He found himself surrounded by water in some kind of tube, beyond the glass he could see a pair of beings arguing, and another lying on the ground, and two more behind the taller one holding some form of devices in their hands.

The shorter being, an elderly man with thinning hair wearing a lab coat, attempted to rush past the other, a man in an orange suit with dark brown hair. He was stopped when the orange suited man slapped him hard and sent him skidding across the floor where he landed next to another machine.

Mewtwo had no idea what to make of the situation, nor did he have time to think about it. He felt a pressure building in his head and before he even knew what it was, it shot outward, shattering the glass and disconnecting Mewtwo from the tubes in his back.

All the men in the room turned to the broken tube in shock, but the one lying on the floor, a woman, didn't move. Mewtwo noted the red liquid pooling around her.

Some form of projectile shot past Mewtwo's head. He looked and saw that it had been fired from one of the men's devices. The man in orange slapped the device from the man's hand. "Don't shoot it, you fools!" He grabbed the other gun from the second man. "Do you know how much money we've put into this project?!"

Before Mewtwo could make another thought, he felt another bout of pressure building in his mind, this one much bigger than the last. Mewtwo grasped his head. _"GAAHHH!"_

The three men took a few steps back. "B-boss?" one of them stammered. "M-maybe we should consider abandoning this project?"

The man turned back to his lackeys and snarled. "I will not be beaten by a Pokémon!" He shouted. "Especially one I _own_."

At that point Mewtwo's mental pressure broke. And the mental blast traveled outward. The three men in front of him flew backwards, the man in orange landed on his knees in the middle of the floor but the two 'lackeys' hit the wall behind them and crumpled to the ground.

The elder man looked on in horror, he reached for a button on the control panel, one for recording notes on the project. "Entry... entry 327. We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon… and we succeeded." The man, known as Dr. Fuji, slumped to the ground as the mental assault, combined with old age, injury, and fear stopped his heart.

"Let's get out of here!" One of the two lackeys cried, together they rushed out the door, leaving their former boss alone with Mewtwo.

"Incredible." He muttered to himself.

As Mewtwo's psychic spike ceased, he fell to the ground, unable to support himself psychically or physically. The man in orange rose from the ground and over to the Pokémon. "Hello, Mewtwo." He greeted the Pokémon.

"_Is-is that my name?"_ He asked, confused about everything.

The man sneered. _Apparently that worthless doctor didn't complete the mind_. He switched back to his smile, one that any knowledgeable human, Pokémon, pony, and basically every other sapient creature would recognize as a fake. Mewtwo had no prior life experience. "Yes, you're Mewtwo, and I want to help you."

"_Help me?"_

"Yes, help you control your powers, and help you learn." He held out his hand to the Psychic-type, but Mewtwo glanced to the deceased elderly man.

"_Who is he?"_

The man smirked. "He's no one – I mean, he's a man who was trying to hurt you."

"_Hurt me?"_ Mewtwo asked. _"Why?"_

"Because he didn't accept you Mewtwo, he thought you were dangerous. But you're not dangerous, are you?"

"_I don't know,"_ Mewtwo answered truthfully. _"Am I?"_

"No, Mewtwo," The man answered, still smiling his Krookodile smile. "You're just misunderstood." He looked down at the Pokémon. "But I understand you," His smile became even more insincere. "I'm your friend."

Mewtwo looked up at the man and after a moment took his hand, the man pulled him to his feet and used his own body to support Mewtwo as they walked towards the door.

"_What is your name?"_ Mewtwo asked.

The man smirked. "My name," He answered. "Is Giovanni."

* * *

It was a few months later, and Mewtwo was sitting in a room by himself staring at a television, as for its purpose he had yet to be told, but he was certain that Giovanni would tell him when he returned. Even though he had been in the building he was told was 'home' for a few months now, he had only seen Giovanni a few times, and only for a short while. A woman, whom called herself Teacher, came to Mewtwo over those months and had helped him learn, she had even given him a dictionary, the only gift he had ever received. And every day Mewtwo went to a form of arena that doubled as an exercise area, a man called Blake then helped him test his powers. Blake was nice, but acted much different around others than he did around Mewtwo when alone.

Soon, Giovanni entered the room, holding a disk he recognized as a DVD.

"Greetings Mewtwo," he said with a smile. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

"_Why haven't you visited me?"_ Mewtwo asked, a sort of anger slowly growing inside him.

Giovanni hid his frown. "I've been… busy." He walked over to the TV and popped the DVD in, but didn't turn on the player. "How have you been?"

"_I have been… well."_ the Psychic-type answered.

Giovanni nodded. "Good, good," He pulled up a chair and sat facing Mewtwo. He looked over the paper on a clipboard atop the TV. "It says here that you have excelled in all areas," He smiled. "Congratulations, my friend! We can finally start fulfilling our long-awaited dream."

_"That is what I wish to question."_ Mewtwo spoke, no longer feeling a scrap of excitement. Instead, he felt frustrated that he was being treated like a toy, rather than the equal being Giovanni claimed him to be.

"Oh?" Giovanni leant forward in his chair, scratching his chin as he awaited Mewtwo to continue.

"_All this time you have spoken of a 'goal' and you have yet to tell me what it is."_

Giovanni sighed. "I can understand your frustration, Mewtwo, but understand, I did not want to show you until I was sure you were ready."

"_Ready for what?"_ He asked.

Giovanni got up and walked over to the TV. "Ready for this." He turned on the DVD player and the TV flickered to life. For a moment the screen was black, then the images began. Within the video, a human man was savagely beating an Arcanine with a stick. Mewtwo shivered upon seeing the brutal abuse, twitching each time the man brought his stick down upon the cowering Pokémon.

_"Why are you showing me this?"_ He asked, but Giovanni gave no reply. Another video came up, sharing the monitor space with the previous video. In this one, a Charizard held a human woman by her throat, and was slamming her mercilessly against a wall.

"_What is the meaning of this?!"_ Another came up, the heart wrenching image of a human, an exorcist, slowly ripping the gems from a Misdreavus' necklace, the Ghost Pokemon cried in pain and faded as its life source was taken from it. Soon another video popped up, the ghastly sight of a Hydreigon chewing off a man's skull. More and more came up, completely covering the monitor with the suffering of countless humans and Pokémon.

"_Stop this at once!"_ A mental pulse went outward and shut the TV down. For a second, Mewtwo worried Giovanni would be angry. But when he looked to the man, he saw there was sadness in his eyes. It was fake, put there so Mewtwo would feel more comfortable. Unfortunately, it worked.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Mewtwo. As you saw this world is filled with cruelty and evil, humans and Pokémon savagely beat each other and cause endless amounts of suffering." He walked over to the Pokémon and placed a hand on his shoulder. "My dream is to eradicate this suffering, but I cannot do it alone." He walked around Mewtwo and looked him in the eyes. "Will you help me?"

For a moment Mewtwo was silent, then he spoke up.

"_Where do we start?"_

* * *

Mewtwo sat in his 'room' at the Viridian Gym, he had been here for a few months now and he still didn't understand what battling these 'Trainers' had to do with the eradication of suffering, but he dared not question Giovanni; if he did he would be shown more of those images. To make matters worse, Mewtwo now wore a form of exo-suit attached to his spine that limited his powers, he had been told that this was to keep him from hurting himself, but in truth, it was so Giovanni could parade him around and not worry about getting hurt.

"_Challenger 109, report to the arena."_

Mewtwo rose from his spot and walked out the door that led to the arena, whenever one of the challengers came, he was to report to the area and defeat them. These battles caused him the most doubt in Giovanni's plan, some of the Trainers seemed to only care about winning the battle, which none ever did, others cared for the well-being of their Pokémon to a level that made Mewtwo reconsider the plan entirely.

A girl who had battled him only last week had been so distraught when he had defeated her Zoroark she had ran onto the field to make sure he was ok. She had ran out of the gym carrying him, tears in her eyes.

This trainer didn't seem to fit into that category. The young boy had spiky brown hair and wore a bright blue shirt. "So you're the big, scary Pokémon everyone's talking about, huh?" From the boy's attitude, Mewtwo could tell the boy was definitely haughty, and he appeared to be a bully, but did that really make him a bad person?

Further in the background, Mewtwo could see a group of young woman, all dressed in red and white, short skirted outfits, they had what Mewtwo assumed were 'pom-poms', from the look of them Mewtwo assumed they were cheerleaders. But why were they all here for this one boy? Did this human control a harem?

"You've made quite a name for yourself, you know?" Mewtwo remained silent. "The silent type huh? Doesn't matter, 'cause I'll be the one to bring you down! Go, Nidoking!" With an enthusiastic cry he tossed a Pokémon prison... a Pokéball, into the air. A large purple Nidoking burst out and roared savagely at his opponent.

Mewtwo had encountered many of these before, several stronger than this specimen. This battle would be trivial.

"I advise you send out all your Pokémon." Giovanni's voice crackled from the speakers on either side of the balcony where he sat. While the other Trainers stood behind their Pokémon and offered some form of support Giovanni knew Mewtwo could handle any challenge.

The challenger smirked. "To be honest, I only brought one other Pokémon. Go, Arcanine!"

Mewtwo already knew this other Pokémon as well. It seemed to be a popular species for boys, apparently on the basis that 'it looked cool'. Were humans really that concerned with physical appearance? Did they not consider things such as personality? Traits? Behaviours? To Mewtwo, humans appeared to be pretty shallow creatures.

The referee walked up to his designated pedestal. "Let the battle commence." He walked on, not even stopping to watch the battle.

Before the Trainer could call out an order, Mewtwo raised an arm towards the Pokémon and activated his powers. His eyes glowed blue and the Arcanine and Nidoking lifted off the ground, encased in a blue outline, and were thrown into the opposite wall, leaving two large dents.

"H-how?" The Trainer held up his Pokédex.

"_No data available."_ The device answered.

"What the hell are you?" The Trainer asked as he recalled his Pokémon.

When no answer came, the challenger stomped out of the gym, like so many before him, and his cheer squad solemnly followed.

* * *

It was only a few days later, and Mewtwo was wandering the Gym as he had taken to doing. Giovanni allowed it, as long as he did not go in a few specific rooms, one of which Mewtwo was standing outside of.

"_What could be in there?"_ he wondered aloud. Giovanni seemed to spend a lot of time in this room, and Mewtwo often wondered what lied behind it. And tonight, he planned to find out.

Tonight was one of the first times Giovanni hadn't been in the Gym. Mewtwo had no idea where he was, but all that mattered was finding out what was behind the door. The inhibitor on his back prevented him from using most of his powers but he could probably manage to pry the barrier open, a fact cemented when the locks on the door clicked open.

Mewtwo smiled as he walked into the room, which appeared to be some form of lab. He walked over to the control panel and began searching the computer for any important data. He found plenty.

"_Entry 001,"_ An elderly voice crackled over the computer. _"After obtaining genetic material from the legendary Pokémon, Mew, we have begun testing it to see if it would possible to recreate the DNA."_

Mewtwo was confused. Who was Mew? What did any of this have to do with him?

The entry log skipped ahead a few. _"Entry 005: We have determined it would be possible to recreate, in some form, the genetic code of Mew. It would, however, cost more than our current benefactor is willing to supply."_

"_Entry 010: A new benefactor has come forward and offered us unlimited funding, more than enough for our current project. We have accepted, despite rumors about who our new benefactor actually is."_

"_Entry 050: Even though we have confirmed that our benefactor is in fact the head of the Team Rocket, the notorious Giovanni, we have no choice but to continue our work for him. We have already begun the recreation of Mew's genetic structure… and my personal side project."_

Mewtwo was beginning to worry about what was going on, but he kept listening. _"Entry 095: We nearly lost subject 1 today; its DNA became unstable and nearly collapsed. I managed to save it by adding my own DNA into its code – it is only a small dose, and as Giovanni has already had us altering the subject's DNA, I do not believe it will have adverse consequences."_

"_Entry 120: After discovering the full extent of the subject's genetic alteration, I have decided to give it a name, going off of the majority of its existing DNA, I have named it Mewtwo."_

Mewtwo's jaw dropped in surprise. _"These are about… me?"_ Despite his shock, the entries kept coming. _"Entry 205: …Amber died today; her DNA collapsed. We managed to save Mewtwo, but… I considered pulling the plug entirely, but I couldn't, I'm beginning to consider the possibility that Mewtwo might be related to me – it has my DNA in it, but... maybe I'm just trying to fill some form of void."_

"_Entry 256: It turns out Mewtwo is male, we were doing some tests with different hormones and… long story short, Marissa screamed and dropped her clipboard when she saw the… appendage."_

Mewtwo was now even more confused and scared.

"_Entry 300: The readings say that Mewtwo's psychic power is even greater than that of a fully trained Metagross or Alakazam. We're excited that the procedures have worked but I can't help but wonder what Giovanni wants with him."_

Mewtwo clenched his fists. He knew _exactly_ what Giovanni wanted. And he had given it to him. Mewtwo's anger was suppressed by the inhibitor, which was good, as otherwise he would have leveled the building. He also missed all but the last two entries.

"_Entry 326: I fear what Giovanni has in store for my son; yes, I've decided to call Mewtwo my own, he has my blood after all, perhaps this is some form of compensation for losing Amber... twice, but I don't care. As soon as he is ready, I am going to remove Mewtwo from this place and find somewhere safe for him."_

"_Entry.. entry 327: We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon... and we succeeded."_

Mewtwo was shocked silent, he was a… "A clone." Mewtwo spun around to see that Giovanni had entered the room. "I'm sorry you had to find out. Now I suppose I'll have to start over." He hit a button on a remote and unimaginable pain shot through Mewtwo's body, originating from the device on his back. "And this time, I'll have them design one without so much free will!"

That was the last straw for the Psychic-type. Mewtwo reached for his powers and accessed them at a primal level. "RAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed, using his actual voice for one of the first times.

Psychic energy blasted through the room, tearing apart the machinery and the device on Mewtwo's back, and launching Giovanni backwards.

The unconscious human could not see the Pokémon standing over him, couldn't see him reach out and touch his forehead, couldn't see him hesitate, and withdraw, with a firm and determined voice.

"_I won't be like you."_ Mewtwo then tore a hole in the ceiling and flew off, leaving a burning laboratory behind.

* * *

Mewtwo sat on an uninhabited island, leaning against a large boulder and thinking about what had occurred earlier.

"_Who am I?"_ he asked himself. _"Really?"_ He was more uncertain of himself than ever before. _"Where do I belong?"_ He looked to the night sky. _"What am I?"_

* * *

Celestia gasped as she came back to the present. "Th-that – you – I didn't…" She had no idea what to say. Mewtwo was unlike any being she had ever encountered, and not just in the genetically altered clone way.

"I-I'm sorry." She finally finished. "I didn't know."

"_No,"_ he replied curtly. _"You didn't."_ He had been in this situation before, he always hated it. People always felt sorry for him, he didn't like sympathy.

"I… I honestly have no idea how to react in this situation." This was unusual for the Princess, she had dealt with annoying dignitaries, emperors and kings, powerful creatures of all kinds, and social situations that would unnerve a therapist. But this was something insanely complicated and even more awkward.

But she wanted to help. The solar princess stepped forward and put one wing around Mewtwo. He tried to resist but Celestia was unexpectedly strong. She forced the resistant legendary into a hug, she knew he could have stopped her but she was glad he didn't. "I promise," She said, tears in her eyes. "That I won't force you back there." She still wanted the Pokémon out of Equestria, although nowhere near as much as she had before. In fact she would make sure that Arceus _didn't_ send them back there.

Mewtwo didn't know what to say, he had encountered few beings who were this accepting this quickly. _"Th-thank you."_ He said, finally breaking out of Celestia's grasp.

She nodded, she had more questions but figured that the legendary would want some time alone. "I'll return later." With that the princess walked out of the room, leaving Mewtwo alone with his thoughts.

The Genetic Pokémon smiled at the princess as she left, she seemed nice, he understood why Arceus chose this world, or he thought he did. Mewtwo looked to the ceiling and sighed, memories of his past always left him depressed. _"Father."_


	13. Chapter 11

After Celestia dismissed the meeting, the group broke apart rather quickly. Lucario had asked if there was anywhere he could go train, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack offered to show him the castle gym; having no better alternative, Korrina had tagged along as well. Twilight invited Professor Juniper to the library so the two of them could exchange more notes on their respective worlds – Juniper had been happy to oblige. Fluttershy had taken Cubone for a tour of the castle gardens, and Misty and Togepi had gone with. Rarity said she was going to look at some of the tapestries and decorations around the castle in hopes of getting inspiration for refurbishing Luna and Celestia's old castle in the Everfree. Gene and Belle left with Fang to explain everything to the Houndoom, then planned to get Fang his own room so the two of them could be alone. And Spike and Princess Luna had snuck off to their rooms for a quick nap.

This left one spirit of chaos and one Earth pony mare wandering the halls of Canterlot Castle.

"-And then I said, oatmeal, are you crazy? And… Discord, are you even listening?"

The spirit of chaos turned and looked down at Pinkie Pie. "Oh, um, of course… actually, not really, no. Sorry but something just feels… off."

"Is it that little doohickey?" Pinkie pointed at the inhibitor around his neck.

"Maybe," Discord tapped his chin. "But it doesn't feel like it's coming from there, more like… everywhere."

"What do ya mean?"

Discord didn't answer, but instead looked around the hall they were in and spotted one of the palace's many windows. "One second." Discord floated over to the window and began to unlatch it. "Tia has spells throughout the castle that prevent too much chaos magic from leaking in." He explained.

"Ok," Pinkie Pie replied. "But why does that make you feel weird?"

"Oh, normally it doesn't," He answered, finally unlatching the window. "But since the clearing of the Everfree drained me I suppose…" Discord stopped as the magical equivalent of getting hit with a bucket of ice water slammed into him, nearly knocking him over. "My, oh my," He said with a devious smile. "Those spells work better than I thought." The glint in the Draconequus' eyes was similar to the one he often gained while torturing Twilight and the others after his escape. That is to say, mischievously evil.

Pinkie Pie noticed this and shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, Discord?" She chuckled nervously. "You alright, buddy?" Pinkie wanted to trust the reformed lord of chaos, it was part of her nature. But she couldn't just forget everything he had done, or how they no longer had a way to stop him.

Discord ignored the Earth pony for a moment and took a deep breath in. "This," Now that he was beyond Celestia's protective spells he could feel the forces of Equus again. He liked what he felt. "Is," The world was completely out of whack. And because he hadn't even done anything to cause it, all the excess chaos was flowing into him. "Delicious."

Pinkie Pie gulped and took a few more steps back. She was considering running to find Twilight, or Princess Celestia, or her Party Cannon. Discord noticed her again and smiled, this doing very little to reassure the mare.

"Now don't you worry your pretty little pink, puffy, party pony head." He patted Pinkie on her head. "I'm just absorbing the largest amount of natural chaos since before my rule is all."

Pinkie smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better!" She cried happily.

"Oh, yes," Discord nodded. "Much better," He rose up to his full height. "Thanks to everything that's been going on, the entire world has gone entirely, for lack of a better word, 'wonky' and thanks to this wonkiness I am absorbing a metric ton of chaos magic!" He smiled again. "And the best part, thanks to this nifty little device my dear friend Bio Chem made for me,"

"I thought you didn't like him."

"Almost _none_ of it is draining." Discord was, in a very basic way of thinking, a chaos magic generator. He naturally created chaos magic and it naturally left his body at a rate that was relatively normal for a magical being. But ever since the Pokémon's arrival his bodily functions had, much like the planet itself, been thrown out of whack.

Up until after Celestia and Luna had left the palace yesterday, Discord had felt as normal as a Draconequus could. Then, around the time he suspected the campaign to de-chaos the Everfree had begun, he felt a drain on his magic levels as the forest attempted to draw chaos directly from him.

But as soon as Bio Chem had placed the inhibitor around Discord's serpentine neck, he had been cut off from the drainage portion of Equus' magical field. What had not been expected was for him to remain connected to the portion that fed energy into him. This meant, that while his magic was draining, it was draining at his normal levels, this made almost no dent in the amount of extra chaos that was pouring into him.

"Pinkie Pie," Discord said suddenly. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Okie-dokie-loki!" Pinkie replied happily. "What is it?"

"I need you to inform the princesses that I will likely not be in attendance at this next meeting."

Pinkie Pie gasped. "But, but what if they need you?"

Discord waved a claw through the air. "Pish-posh," He replied. "I'm sure those three are perfectly capable of coming up with a plan without little old me. And besides," Discord looked out the window and towards the Everfree. "There's a little something I need to take care of."

"But-" Pinkie tried to speak up, to tell Discord that he should stay and help but was interrupted when Discord turned back to her.

"Pinkie Pie," He said. His voice lacking its usual mischievous tone. "This is something I _need _to do."

Pinkie could tell Discord was being serious, and that fact alone let her know just how important this was to him. "Alright," She finally answered. "But don't do anything stupid."

Discord smiled. "Don't you worry one bit," He said as he floated out the window. "When have I ever done anything stupid?" Discord disappeared in his usual puff of smoke. Leaving Pinkie Pie alone with her thoughts.

"I wonder what Gene and Belle are up to." She asked herself before hopping off.

* * *

Princess Celestia shook her head as she walked, trying to get Mewtwo's mental images out of her head. "I cannot let this get the best of me," She told herself. "Just have him move them to a different planet."

Celestia could no longer force Arceus to return to Earth and keep a clean conscious. That man… Giovanni, he was only comparable to Sombra really; Discord was more chaotic evil, and Chrysalis had her hive's best intentions at heart, granted she also had an outright hatred for the other races of Equus there as well. Nightmare Moon hadn't actually done anything as cruel as what Giovanni had, but this was mostly because she had only been on Equus for a few hours total, including her return.

"Did he plan for this to happen?" She asked herself. It certainly seemed that way to her. Celestia was almost to her room, where she hoped to take a quick shower before her next meeting, when one of her guards came rushing down the hallway.

"Princess Celestia!" He exclaimed as he saw her. "There's a crowd gathering at the front gate. They're demanding to be told what is going on."

Celestia sighed, she knew this would happen sooner or later. "I'll get right on it." She said, upset that yet another problem had presented itself.

The guard shifted nervously. "There's… something else, your majesty, that creature you ordered us not to attack?"

Celestia groaned. "Aegislash."

"Yes, it's, um, blocking the gates."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "That… actually doesn't sound too bad; we can't have a mob breaking into the castle."

The unicorn nodded. "Yes but, it's scaring the citizens. Also… they have another one of those… creatures with them. Some kind of fox type thing. They have it in a cage and it seems to be upset."

Celestia shook her head and started towards the front hall. _Why can't Luna or Twilight ever deal with the citizens?_ She thought to herself.

Once Celestia finally reached the front hall, she was surprised to find Rarity there, admiring several of the tapestries hanging on the walls. Once she spotted the Princess she smiled and trotted over to her. "Hello, Princess," She said with a small bow. "I suppose you're here to deal with those ruffians at the front gate?"

Celestia smiled. Talking to any of the former Element bearers always cheered her up, especially Pinkie Pie, but Rarity was good too. "Yes, I have to explain the situation to the citizens of Canterlot… or at least as much as I can without causing panic."

Rarity nodded and kept pace with the Princess as she exited the castle. Once outside, they saw a crowd of ponies right outside the front gate. They were standing a few feet back though, because a very intimidating four foot sword was floating in their path.

As Celestia neared the gate the crowd's murmuring ceased and they waited for the Princess to speak. Celestia used her magic to open the gates, she stepped beyond them and Aegislash moved out of her way, Rarity opted to remain inside the gates.

Celestia surveyed the crowd, she saw a few nobles, workers, even a few tourists. She also spotted a large cage, some kind of dog pen, at the center of the group.

The Princess cleared her throat. "My little ponies," she began. "I understand that you are all unsure of what is happening, and I wish to answer any questions you have to the fullest of my ability, but first, I would ask you to show me the Poké-… the creature, that you have found."

The crowd shifted and an elder Unicorn pushed the cage to the front of the congregation. "Caught it myself," He said proudly. "Use ta catch critters for them fancy fur coats." Celestia gritted her teeth. Fur coats and other such commodities had been introduced to Equestria after trade agreements were made with Griffenhiem and Canida. While many ponies found the idea appalling, others, nobles and the upper class mostly, had actually liked the outfits. "S'too bad I retired – could've made a lot a bits off of this one."

Once the cage finally reached the front of the crowd, most of the ponies were feeling uncomfortable. Fur coats had fallen out of favor in the past few years, thanks in no small part to several animal rights groups.

When Celestia finally laid eyes on the creature in the cage, she gasped. Having lived for as long as she had, Celestia had thought she'd seen it all, up until yesterday, but she was still getting used to just how different the Pokémon looked from each other. Aegislash was intimidating, but not that scary; Belle and Gene both had a more regal appearance, like a princess and her knight. Several of the Legendaries were awe-inspiring, some were actually rather cute, at least one looked like a pony, some were downright strange, and still other Pokémon could even be considered horrifying. Of the ones she'd encountered, this meant Hydreigon. But the creature in the cage before her was beautiful, regal, awe-inspiring, and intimidating. Yet, it was also quite normal, considering the Pokémon she had seen, something that could nearly be mistaken for an Equestrian native, and almost… cute, in a way.

The creature before her had a white coat, but unlike her own, this one's appeared to be tinted light yellow or almost orange. It was fox-like in appearance, but bigger than any fox she had seen. Its entirely red eyes also struck her. But its most defining trait was, without a doubt, its tails. All nine of them.

"Nine?" The Ninetales' eyes were filled with fear and apprehension as the Fire-type looked up at the princess.

"Could've made at least a few coats outta this one, I'd bet." The stallion said aloud. The Ninetales whimpered and tried to move further from the stallion, but the cage stopped her.

"Open it." Celestia ordered.

"Pardon, your highness?" The stallion asked, not believing what he had heard.

"Open the cage," She repeated, staring directly at the unicorn. "Now." Celestia didn't want to be harsh with her ponies, even the ones whose life choices she disagreed with. But seeing the Ninetales in the cage, she reacted the same way she would if someone caged a phoenix or another pony.

The stallion realized the Princess wasn't joking and walked to the front of the cage where he inserted a key into the lock pad and swung the door open. The Ninetales immediately leapt out of the cage, and hid underneath Princess Celestia.

Celestia's eyes went wide as the creatures nuzzled her legs affectionately. "Thank you." she said to the Princess, although without the translation spell Celestia could only guess what she had said, she guessed thank you.

"You're… welcome, little one." She said with a smile. She turned back to the assembled crowd. "Now I assume you're here because you have questions about these creatures?"

A murmur of agreement went up from the crowd.

"Then I'll explain," The Princess took a moment to gather her thoughts, then explained. "These being are all members of a race collectively known as Pokémon. Due to recent events, an… acquaintance of mine felt it was imperative that the Pokémon be moved to Equestria; I have yet to work out all the details myself, but one thing is clear – the Pokémon are just as intelligent as you or I, and they all have their own special kind of magic. I suggest you treat them as equals and, if you find any that seem to need help, direct them to the city guard. The same goes if you encounter any that are hostile. Do not engage them, just contact the guard."

Celestia finished with a smile. She didn't like lying to her ponies, but in certain cases she knew it was necessary. For example, telling the ordinary pony that a being more powerful than the princess had moved to Equestria and that there was very little she could do about it would cause mass hysteria.

Just as Celestia was about to dismiss the crowd, a stallion near the front asked a question that, in retrospect, seemed rather obvious.

"Princess, just what is that thing?" He pointed to Aegislash, Celestia turned to the Steel-type that floated silently beside her. She had ordered Aegislash earlier to patrol the castle, figuring he couldn't get in too much trouble that way, with explicit directions not to harm anyone and to protect any ponies who needed help, she figured if this thing was going to be around for a while she might as well make use of it.

"This is… one of the Pokémon, they come in many, many forms, and he is... serving as a _temporary _addition to the palace guard."

"Greetings, little ponies." Aegislash greeted.

Several of the ponies took a few steps back and most decided that they would wait for the next open court before asking questions, hoping that the Aegislash wouldn't be present.

The crowd dispersed and left Celestia at the gate with her loyal sword and the Ninetales she had freed.

"Well, I think that went rather well, actually," Rarity noted. "It certainly could have gone worse."

"Yes, I suppose so." Celestia agreed with a nod. "But what about this?" She gestured to the Ninetales now sitting at her side.

"Nine!" She cried happily looking up at the Princess, unlike most Pokémon, Ninetales were more in tune with magic, and at times, psychic abilities, which was where their curses came from, so this Ninetales could sense just how magical the princess was. Plus, she could tell that the Alicorn would likely live as long as she would, which was a plus.

"Oh, how sweet," Rarity cooed. "I think she likes you."

Celestia tilted her head and looked back at the Fox Pokémon smiling up at her. "Wait a moment." The Princess cast the translation spell again, making it so Ninetales could speak. "That's better," Celestia bent down and looked right into the Pokémon's eyes. "You realize that you don't have to stay with me, don't you? I would have done the same for anyone."

"But I can stay, can't I?" Ninetales asked hopefully. "I sorta just evolved and I don't have a den anymore." Ninetales had no idea where she was, or what was going on.

Celestia picked up on this and silently cursed Arceus again. _Just one more thing to add to the list_. she thought. Seeing the sad look in Ninetales' eyes, Celestia sighed. "Of course you can stay here, miss..."

"I'm Ninetales," She answered happily. "Unless you wanna give me a nickname?" Ninetales had always wanted to meet a nice Trainer and travel the world. That was part of the reason she had sought out a Fire Stone.

Celestia's expression turned to confusion until she remembered what Gene and Juniper had told her, that singular Pokémon could be called by their species name or, after being caught, given a nickname by their Trainer. "Um, no, that's alright." This didn't deter Ninetales in the least.

"Ok," She followed Celestia as the solar princess headed back to the castle, Aegislash and Rarity following behind them. "What's your name?"

Celestia smiled. "I'm Princess Celestia."

* * *

Pinkie Pie trotted down one of the many, many halls in Canterlot Castle, she had spent the past half hour searching for any of her friends but had yet to find anyone.

"I'll go… this way." She said happily as she came to an intersection, despite never having been in this part of the castle before Pinkie wasn't the least bit worried about getting lost, she'd just have to wait for one of her friends to ask where she was.

Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she continued down the peaceful hallway, suddenly her left ear got itchy and her back right leg started twitching. "Oh, oh, something's gonna-" She was cut off when an orange spark of light shot down the hallway, ricocheting off the walls.

"Rotom, tom, tom, tom, tom, tom, tom!" Pinkie ducked as the little orange speck shot past her head and into a vase, knocking it over, but not breaking it.

"-Fall over." She finished redundantly.

Pinkie was about to check out the vase to see what was inside when a familiar brown Earth pony ran into view. "Miss Pie!" Bio Chem called. "Thank goodness." He came to a stop in front of Pinkie Pie, grinning wildly. "I need your help, you haven't seen an electromagnetic, plasmic, non-corporeal, self-sustaining energy being around here by any chance have you?"

"...Uuuuhhh... no?" Pinkie understood about one outta every three words in that sentence.

Bio Chem sighed. "Alright, thanks anyway." The stallion shook his head before rushing off.

"Well, that was rude," Pinkie said to herself. "He asks me something I have no way of understanding, then rushes off without explaining himself? Who does that?"

"Tom?"

Pinkie turned to see a tiny orange head sticking out of the vase. Once it saw her, it ducked back inside.

"Hey," Pinkie called after it, running over and somehow sticking her head in the mouth of the vase. "It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt 'cha."

After getting over the shock of Pinkie sticking her entire head in its hiding place, the Rotom looked up at the mare, and she smiled back at him. This was the first smile he had seen since winding up in the castle that didn't scare him; it was a true smile, one that made him smile, which in turn made Pinkie's smile even wider. That made Rotom laugh.

Pinkie giggled and pulled her head out of the vase. "I'ma bet you're a Pokémon, aren't you?"

Rotom zipped out of the vase and floated in front of Pinkie. "Rotom." He nodded affirmatively.

"Well, you're a neat little Pokémon." Pinkie replied causing the Plasma Pokémon to laugh. Suddenly Pinkie Pie gasped.

"Idea~! You can come with me. I've been looking for my friends and a few of them are Pokémon, they can translate and then we can really get introduced."

Rotom snickered and zipped into Pinkie's mane, causing it to stick up in random places and puff up even more than usual. "I'll take that as a yes!" Pinkie looked around, then turned back down the way she had come. "They're probably this way."

After a few more minutes Pinkie spoke again. "I'm Pinkie Pie by the way, but you can call me Pinkie, all my friends do."

"Rotom?" He asked.

"... I'll figure out what you're saying later. Until then I'll just call you Zap, 'cause you're all static-y and stuff. And cause meeting you was a real shock!" Pinkie laughed at her own joke.

Zap smiled at his new name. As Pinkie continued to search for her friends, she told Zap all about herself, her friends, and Ponyville. "-And then Twilight became a Princess, so she has wings now. Not long after that there was this little incident with some of Discord's plants, but he apologized afterwards, and – oh, look, we're here."

Zap stuck his head out of Pinkie's mane to see that they had stopped in front of a pair of doors pretty much indistinguishable from any others. "I think Belle and Gene are in there."

Pinkie Pie pushed open the door just as Belle threw herself into Gene's arms, kissing him deeply.

* * *

"-This is where the Princess said you could stay." The Pegasus guard said as he led Gene and Belle into their room. "If you require anything, all you have to do is ask."

"Thanks." Gene said, closing the door behind them.

After the meeting Gene and Belle had explained everything that had happened to Fang, the Houndoom had actually taken the information in stride and hadn't even freaked out all that much when they explained how Arceus was involved. The Dark Pokémon was currently resting comfortably in a room adjacent to the one Belle and Gene had been given.

"So," Belle whispered to her mate. "What do you wanna do?" The tone in her voice made her choice obvious, but Gene had other plans.

"Can we talk about something, Belle? Something kinda serious?" Belle sensed Gene's worry and immediately turned to him, placing one hand on his cheek in reassurance.

"Anything."

Gene smiled. Belle was always willing to listen to him, no matter what. This was extremely important since, until recently, their relationship had been a bit… troublesome at times, although neither would have changed a thing. Except for a few laws.

"What did you want to talk about?" Belle asked.

"It's more of a request really," Gene answered. "I know it's part of your nature to be protective and all but, could you stop threatening to tear people's minds apart? I don't think the ponies understand, and I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you because of it." Back on Earth, people at least had a vague understanding of Belle's protective nature, although very few knew the entire story behind it.

Belle sighed. "I'll try Gene, but like you said, it's part of who I am, you're my mate and Trainer… or, you were my Trainer, I guess." Belle giggled. "Funny isn't it? Even without a Pokéball, I'm still just as protective and Fang still treats you the same."

Gene smiled. "Yeah, you think the others are alright?" To Gene, his team was his family, in some ways more so than his actual family, and he worried for their well-being.

"After all we've been through? I'm sure they can take care of themselves."

Gene knew she was right, but he still worried, especially for a couple of his Pokémon who weren't exactly the most peaceful-looking creatures.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Belle asked after a moment, sensing unease in her partner.

Gene nodded. "Yeah, and this one is about… us."

Belle could tell he was having trouble putting exactly what he meant to words. "If you can't say it I could always…" She put one hand on his temple to show what she meant.

"No, I – let me do it." For a second, Belle didn't know what he meant, but soon his intentions were made clear. Using his new psychic abilities Gene transmitted his thoughts to Belle's mind, expressing what words never could.

The love he felt for her, memories of their most precious, and most difficult, moments together, and his hopes for their future together including…

Belle's breath caught in her throat and for a moment everything was silent. She looked up at her mate, tears of joy in her eyes and threw herself into his arms, kissing him deeply and whispering a single thought in his mind. _"Yes."_

The pair might have stayed like that forever, but as fate would have it, somepony was there to interrupt. Again. Gods everywhere must have had it out for them.

"Awww." Pinkie Pie cried, startling the Pokémon.

As the pair turned to Pinkie, the pony noticed the tears streaking down Belle's face. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Belle just smiled. "Nothing," She grabbed Gene's hand and looked to him, still smiling. "Nothing at all."

Pinkie looked between the pair for a moment before asking. "Is this a bad time? 'Cause Mr. and Mrs. Cake said I'm supposed to knock before coming into somepony's bedroom but I keep forgetting."

Belle just laughed, nothing could upset her good mood. "No Pinkie, we were just talking."

"Oh, alright, in that case would you mind-"

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight interrupted her friend as she rushed into the room. "Glad I found you; where's Discord? We're supposed to meet Princess Celestia in her room to talk about royalty-level problems and I can't find him."

Pinkie Pie visibly winced. "Uhh, Discord said he had to take care of something in the Everfree, he said he was sorry he had to miss the meeting but he said it was really important."

Twilight gaped in disbelief. "He. Just. Left?! And what's he planning this time? Oh, I've got to find the princess!"

Twilight galloped out of the room and Pinkie followed her calling. "Don't worry Twilight! What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

The Everfree Forest, about forty-five minutes ago.

Discord appeared in a puff of green smoke on the outskirts of the Everfree, not far from Ponyville. He normally would've teleported further in but the fluctuating energies were a veritable mine field of unstable magic.

The spirit of chaos didn't care, his mind was set solely on finding the problem and solving it, by whatever means necessary.

"Get ready, whoever you are," Discord said as he walked into the Everfree. "For a storm of chaos!"


	14. Chapter 12

Zygarde hummed to himself while he worked, he knew it sounded silly coming from one of the oldest beings in existence, especially one who was as serious as him, but he found it relaxing.

The Order Pokémon was currently by himself. Shaymin was currently in the process of reshaping the forest itself, but Zygarde had gone ahead to continue draining the chaos.

"_What even causssed thisss much chaosss to sssettle here?"_ He wondered aloud. There was more chaos in this forest than he had ever encountered before, although since Arceus always leaned more towards order, that wasn't a surprise.

"_Perhapsss thisss Dissscord hasss sssomething to do with it."_ Zygarde wasn't worried about facing Discord, he was simply curious as to how the Draconequus functioned.

Pushing the thoughts from his mind, Zygarde turned back to the task at hand. As he slithered into a new portion of the forest, he stuck his tail into the ground and concentrated, and as Zygarde used his powers to feel the energy in the ground, he was greeted with the now familiar sensation of an abundance of chaos magic. Sighing, the legendary activated his powers. The dots on his frills, body and face all glowed white as he absorbed the chaos and worked it down to the smallest portion of its nature, the tiniest hint of order that held all of existence together, then he strengthened it.

Zygarde knew that chaos and order needed each other to exist but felt that too much chaos could only lead to disaster, and the Everfree was his definition of too much. Discord actually thought the reverse was true.

As Zygarde finished purifying the clearing he breathed a sigh of relief. The Order Pokémon had never had to undo this much chaos before, and after nearly two days he was beginning to tire. _"I sssupossse a ressst might be in order."_ He said to himself. He could sense just how much area the Everfree covered, and he had just barely purified ten percent of the total area, and the deeper he went, the more chaotic the forest became.

Zygarde found a clearing not far from where he'd been where the sun broke through the canopy. After purifying the clearing he smiled and curled up in the sunlight, allowing his body to soak up the heat.

Meanwhile, not far from where Zygarde was napping, a certain chaotic force of nature was trudging through a newly harmonious portion of the Everfree, and doing his best to undo it as we walked.

_Snap!_

A group of trees twisted together, their branches forming gruesome looking shapes.

_Snap!_

A bush grew and reshaped itself into a perfect likeness of Discord himself.

_Snap!_

Discord loosed a large amount of chaos into the ground, overwriting the new harmony.

_Snap!_

Zygarde's eyes snapped open.

Discord continued merrily down the path he had chosen, one where the trees parted before him and the ground was made of quicksilver. Discord smiled; he had no idea why he hadn't done this type of thing before – Celestia couldn't get mad at him for causing chaos in the Everfree.

"Perhaps I'll build a summer home here," He mused. "A floating castle or, oh, one that has legs!" He chuckled and snapped his fingers again, transmuting a large boulder into a giant rubber ball that began to roll around of its own accord.

While Discord continued to bend reality to his whim, most of the creatures of the Everfree were doing their best to stay out of his path. Manticores and Cockatrices hid, Timberwolves hid in the darkness, just out of Discord's view, and most Pokémon scrambled to get away, but not all.

As Discord continued down his self-made path, hoping to draw the attention of whatever Pokémon had caused the Everfree's transformation, he was blissfully unaware that he was being watched.

A pair of yellow eyes observed Discord as he worked, eyes that took in every little detail of what the chaos lord did, and found the chaos amusing. "Zzzzz."

Discord whistled happily, absentmindedly turning this into that and that into a giant tennis racket. But being the impatient, chaotic being he was, Discord quickly grew bored, unlike most of the times when he went on a chaos spree. This time he actually had a purpose. "You'd think a being of order would be a little more punctual." He tapped his wristwatch to make sure it wasn't off, then heard a rumbling coming from the thicket and smiled.

"Zzzzzaaaaddd!" A colossal snake that Discord almost mistook for a basilisk burst from the bushes. Zygarde stared at Discord angrily. _"What are you doing here, Lord of Chaosss?"_ There was no doubt in Zygarde's mind that the being before him was the one known as Discord, if the mismatched body hadn't been enough of a hint the sheer amount of chaos radiating from the creature was.

"So the 'savior' of the Everfree finally decides to show himself, hmm?" Discord surveyed Zygarde. "I thought a being who embodied order would be a little more impressive."

Zygarde hissed at Discord. _"What do you want, Dissscord?"_

"Oh, you know my name!" Discord swooned falsely. "I'm ssso flattered." He hissed, mocking Zygarde.

Zygarde growled. _"Dragon Breath!"_ The attack would've hit Discord head on had he not teleported at the last second.

Zygarde searched the clearing frantically for the Draconequus until a voice from above him asked him a question. "So you know who I am," Discord said from atop Zygarde's head. "But I don't even know your name."

"_Yahhh!"_ Zygarde shook his head and Discord floated to the ground like a feather.

"That is no way to start any kind of relationship, especially a rivalry, so go on, introduce yourself." Discord held up a microphone. "Preferably some form of impressive monologue-y intro, I want to have a few for reference next time I do one."

Zygarde scowled but introduced himself._"I am Zygarde, lord of order and harmony."_

Discord sighed and put away his recording equipment. "Zygarde huh?" He tapped his chin with a talon. "Weird name, I think I call you Zy."

"_You will do no sssuch thing Dissscord!"_ The Order Pokémon snapped. _"What you will do isss ceassse thisss infernal chaosss making and leave thisss placcce at onccce."_

"Hmm, tempting but I came here to do something… what was it? What was it?" Discord snapped his fingers again, causing a bush to erupt in Poison Joke. "Oh, that's right! I came to stop you."

Discord no longer had his usual mirth in his eyes, the Draconequus' face warped into a serious expression. Zygarde laughed. _"You cannot ssstop me."_ He replied. _"Order alwaysss winsss in the end, or did you forget the lesssonsss your little friendsss taught you?"_ Zecora had explained Discord's current position to Zygarde when she had warned him of the chaos lord's power, then she had gone to Ponyville to try and find Fluttershy or Twilight and warn them.

Discord shook his head. "Hmph. You're one to talk. You come here and the first thing you do is start upsetting the natural balance? What do you think is going to happen?!"

"_Order will prevail,"_ Zygarde said with a smirk. _"And chaosss will fail, jussst asss it alwaysss hasss."_He looked Discord right in the eyes. _"Jussst asss you alwaysss have."_

Discord growled. He could handle Celestia, or Luna, or even Twilight and the others occasionally gloating over how they defeated him, although they hardly ever did, they had bested him fair and square, although he would never admit that. But Zygarde had never even _met_ him before, let alone fought or beaten him. And Discord would not have some orderly oriented little braggart acting like a big shot.

"If you think order always wins," Discord said with a small smile. "Then I guess you wouldn't be afraid of a little CHAOS!"

As Discord screamed the last word, the landscape around them shifted, trees melted away, the ground stretched and morphed and after a moment Zygarde and Discord stood facing each other in the center of a clearing; nay, a veritable battlefield.

Zygarde grinned. _"If it'sss a battle you want, then it'sss a battle you'll get! Earthquake!"_

Zygarde slammed his tail against the ground and the battlefield shook, Discord simply lifted his feet off the ground. "Oh poo, I don't have specific attacks to call out threateningly," Discord said mockingly. "I guess I'll just have to make do with… Let's get chaotic!"

Twin orbs of golden energy formed in Discord's mismatched hands. He hurled them both at Zygarde and one hit the Order Pokémon, but the chaos was absorbed as so much chaos had before. The next attack was aimed at the ground in front of Zygarde, as it hit a patch of Poison Joke sprouted and spread all around the Dragon-Type.

"Let's see what happens to a Pokémon when exposed to Poison Joke." Discord smirked. "I better remember the results for Twilight."

Zygarde said nothing and simply slithered forward, absorbing the plants chaos as he moved, causing it to wither._"At thisss point I sssuppossse Keldeo or Mew might sssay 'isss that the bessst you've got?'"_

Discord frowned, but didn't let it get to him. _If pure chaos won't affect him_, he thought to himself. _Then I'll just try a less… direct approach._

Discord flew forward towards Zygarde, grinning like a mad man. "Batter up!" He cried, materializing a giant golf club.

"_Crunch!"_ Zygarde opened his jaw impossibly wide, actually unhinging it as he did, and bit down on the club, snapping it in two. _"Pity,"_ He sighed, spitting out the putter's shattered remains. _"I misssed."_

Discord didn't care, he had plenty more where that came from. "Why don't you chew on this, Zy?" Discord materialized a stick of dynamite and tossed it at Zygarde, the Order Pokémon attempted to back away but the explosive followed him, then exploded, knocking Zygarde to the ground.

"Hhhhh!" Zygarde hissed as he rose back to his full height. _"Land's Wrath!"_

Energy from the surrounding ground flowed into Zygarde's body where the legendary gathered it in his mouth and-

"TSSR!" A Blue laser shot from the Ground-Type, hitting Discord before he could react. The beam slammed him into the ground and caused him to be driven back even further, creating a 15-foot long crater.

"Ow." He said as he popped out of the hole. Discord quickly looked himself over and saw he was covered in scrapes and cuts, if Discord had had more time, or a small amount of patience, he would have realized that since all of Zygarde's attacks were powered by order that he could actually get physically hurt, and that he could do the same to Zygarde. Instead, he melted into the ground, confusing the Order Pokémon.

After a moment of searching Zygarde became worried. _"Where-?"_ The ground around Zygarde rose up and suddenly slammed shut on him like he had been sitting in a giant book. Discord rose out of the ground and smiled.

"How do ya like them apples?" Discord quipped. He materialized a Zap Apple and took a bite, waiting for the Pokémon to burst from his rocky trap, but nothing happened.

Confused, Discord unfolded the ground and saw a circular hole leading straight down. Quickly realizing what had happened, the chaos lord floated until he was safely above the ground.

Zygarde then burst from the earth, looking much like a black, green, and white blur. _"Extreme Speed!"_The move rocketed the Order Pokémon upwards and he rammed into Discord. They both fell to the earth and landed a good amount of distance from each other.

"Is that the best_you've_ got?" Discord mocked. "Even those little trinkets the girls wore were more impressive, and I don't just mean in power."

"_At leassst I wasssn't beaten by a prisssy little pony and her friendsss!"_

Discord snapped to attention. "Say what you want about me, Zygarde," He began walking forward. "Insult my appearance, my powers, and even my failures," He was now only a few feet from Zygarde. "But never, never. Insult. My. Friends!" Discord had been only a few feet from Zygarde as he finished his warning, but, as he is apt to do, as he finished his entire body blurred and shot forward, Discord raked his talons down Zygarde's side, his chaos tearing through the order surrounding the Pokémon and leaving four gashes on his side. Discord noticed that while the Order Pokémon's blood was red, his flesh was as black as his scales.

"Hhhhhh!"

"_Gahhhh!"_

Zygarde hissed and screamed in pain, his wounds steaming as his body's natural defenses destroyed the chaos magic. He glared at Discord and shot forward faster than the chaos lord expected.

Zygarde quickly wrapped his body around Discord's serpentine form and squeezed. Discord's eyes popped from his head almost comically, then something snapped.

"AAAAHHHH!" Discord disappeared from Zygarde's wrap and reappeared half way across the field. Discord quickly surveyed himself to see what was wrong, he saw that his lion arm was twisted at an odd angle, he poked it and- "AAAHH!" Yep, his arm was broken, and because order had snapped the bone it wouldn't heal immediately.

Discord looked up to see Zygarde sliding across the field. Knowing he wouldn't reach Discord before the Draconequus teleported, he hoped to at least delay the chaos lord's actions with his next move._"Sandstorm!"_Zygarde whipped up a raging sandstorm which covered the field in seconds.

Discord coughed as the stinging sand hit him and snapped his talons. He suddenly found himself a good hundred feet above the storm. "Now my throat's all dry," He whined, his frown quickly turned to a smile. "I think I could use a little glass of water." Discord tried to snap the fingers on his paw but was once again greeted with the unfamiliar pain. He snapped his talons and a glass of water appeared over the battlefield. The glass held the entirety of Ponyville Lake, something he knew he would have to correct later, and cast its shadow over the field, then Discord poured it.

Zygarde looked up as heard what sounded like a waterfall, his eyes went wide as tons of water was dropped on top of him. _"Camouflage!"_He cried before the water completely covered him.

Discord floated gingerly above the quickly receding water line and smiled as he was greeted by the sound of coughing. He turned to see a waterlogged and half-drowned Zygarde lying on the ground. While Camouflage had lessened the damage done by the water, it hadn't let him breathe it.

"You give up yet?" Discord asked with a grin.

Zygarde rose off of the ground and stared down at Discord. _"Never."_

Zygarde then did something he had only done a few times before. He channeled order. Many legendaries had powers far beyond their normal attacks. Cresselia's pleasant dreams, Celebi's time travel, and Victini's nearly boundless energy were only a few examples, but Zygarde's ability allowed him to tap into the pure forces of order and loose it all in a single beam of energy.

Discord could see what Zygarde was doing; he could see the energy swirling around the Pokémon, and Discord was scared. The Elements of Harmony turned Discord to stone because they could sense a tiny bit of good in the Draconequus. Zygarde's attack would likely vaporize the spirit of disharmony.

But Discord wasn't about to be outdone. As Zygarde prepared to fire his attack Discord gathered as much chaos energy as he could which, thanks to the chaotic state of the world and the device around his neck that kept it from draining, was quite a lot. Discord gathered the energy in his hands, wincing as he held up his broken paw.

"ZZZZAAAAADDDD!" Zygarde fired a beam of pure order at Discord.

"Yahhh!" Discord loosed his chaos stream, channeling a virtual sea of chaos into the blast.

The beams collided halfway between the two beings, and for a moment, time seemed to slow down. The beams crashed and wrapped around each other, twisting and morphing into a ball of chaotic and harmonic energy. Then it started convulsing and glowing brighter, and brighter, and brighter until…

"_Oh,"_

"Ponyfeathers."

The orb exploded outwards and for a moment everything was silent, then the sound wave hit like sonic charge. An ear-shattering explosion knocked Discord and Zygarde backwards in opposite directions, and then traveled outwards, hitting Ponyville, Canterlot, and even reaching halfway to the Crystal Empire before dissipating.

The sound wave shattered windows in Ponyville, knocked over trees, and sent every living being running for shelter.

At that point, a moment after the sound wave stopped, Discord might have stood up and, surveying his surroundings, said something akin to "Fluttershy is going to be so upset." or "Tia is going to kill me." or "So that's what would happen; better tell Twilight." Of course he didn't – an unconscious being makes no remarks.

Twilight Sparkle ran to Celestia's room as quickly as she could. After learning that Discord had left, she had futilely searched the castle in hopes he had been joking. After that had proved fruitless, she went to find Princess Celestia, first checking the dignitary wing and then she rushed to her room.

As Twilight entered the hall where the princesses and Discord (on opposite sides) slept, she saw that Aegislash was floating in front of Celestia's door, in between two castle guards who looked both nervous and upset. Both presumably due to the giant sword who was trying to do their job.

Twilight slowed to a walk as she neared the door. "I'm here to see the Princess." she stated firmly. Aegislash looked her over and, recognizing her as Princess Twilight Sparkle, moved out of the way so she could pass.

Twilight entered her mentor's room and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her there, along with a large white fox creature with nine tails that moved like the solar alicorn's mane sleeping on her bed.

Celestia turned as she heard the door open and close and smiled when she saw Twilight there. "Twilight, good, now we just need Luna and Discord and we can begin."

"Actually that's what I'm here about," Twilight said nervously. "You see, it seems that Discord kinda… left."

Celestia blinked once and shook her head. "He did what now?" She asked in exasperation.

"Yeah, apparently he wanted to see what's happening in the Everfree and-"

"He what?!"

Celestia and Twilight turned back to the door to see a bemused Princess Luna standing there. "Discord was sick only this morning. Where would he get the notion that seeking out something that is purifying the Everfree is a good idea?!"

Luna was honestly worried for the Draconequus; she might not have agreed with everything he did, but even though Discord delighted in pranking her and her beloved sister every other week, she definitely did not want to see him get hurt.

"Calm down Luna," Celestia soothed her sister. "I'm sure Discord is fine, he's more powerful than most give him credit for." She smiled. "And besides, what's the worst–?"

**BOOOOMM!**

The entire castle, and city, shook with a force greater than the harmonic blast that had purified Luna and petrified Discord, and louder than the explosion that resulted from the relocation of the Hall of Legends.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all fell to the floor as the castle shook and, as the shaking subsided, the princesses stood back up and Luna looked to her sister, a distinct lack of humor in her eyes. "And that is what happens. You had to ask, sister."

Arceus sighed as he considered his current predicament. Mewtwo was successfully in Canterlot. Ever since Shaymin had told the Chesnaught the other day, word of what Arceus had done was spreading across the land, and Arceus had worked a few extremely horrible possible futures out of the realm of possibility, but now he was dealing with an entirely new problem.

"_I refuse to stay this close to him for one more moment!"_ Reshiram roared.

His family.

"_For once, Reshiram and I are in agreement."_ Zekrom stated. The Deep Black Pokémon crossed his arms._"Kyurem is cold-hearted and exceedingly disturbing to be around."_

"_You do realize you're related to him, don't you?"_ When it came to relations the Tao Trio were more confusing than any other group. Arceus was certain he had created all three of them separately but, as he had been locked away and researching ways to break out during the events in question. He had not witnessed the 'Great Dragon' the Unovians spoke of. If what Victini and Landorus, the only Unovian legendaries around at that point, said was true, then Kyurem, using his abilities, had actually fused with Reshiram and Zekrom in order to help the twin heroes bring life to the newly formed Unova region.

The trio finally managed to split apart after the twins began to battle and Reshiram and Zekrom had resented Kyurem ever since. Another side effect had been that while before the fusion, the trio had been as related as Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza were which is to say, not at all. Afterwards, while Reshiram and Zekrom still shared no relations, Kyurem was now as related to the Deep Black and Vast White Pokémon as Mewtwo was to Mew, which was in a very roundabout manner but still counted if you were being technical.

"_We are not!"_ The pair screamed in unison, then glared at each other.

_These two hate each other more than Yveltal and Xerneas._ Arceus thought to himself. _"Fine, fine, but what do you want me to do? Kyurem's been in his room since yesterday and he hasn't caused any problems for either of you in several centuries."_

"_Lets us leave,"_ Zekrom stated bluntly. _"A lot of the others don't want to stay much longer either."_

Zekrom was right; getting all the legendaries together was like a family reunion, except that in his family some of the members were literally polar opposites. And some of the legendaries preferred solitude to the company of others, in addition to Kyurem, Rayquaza, Groudon, Zapdos, and Yveltal had secluded themselves in their rooms after Arceus had ended the meeting yesterday. The Alpha Pokémon had tried to convince them to socialize a bit when he had visited everyone, but had little success, especially since Groudon was nursing a bruised ego after Kyogre beat him in their latest battle.

In all honesty Arceus thought that everything was going pretty well, at least no one had blown anything up yet.

"_I can't let everyone leave just yet. If the ponies saw you two or Rayquaza, or probably even Thundurus flying overhead, they would panic."_ Arceus shook his head. _"And I believe we've already caused enough of that."_

Reshiram looked to Arceus, she knew how panicky mortals could get around legendaries, N had taught her that when she was traveling with him. She had never meant to be captured, because she and Zekrom had been in stone sleep for several centuries prior to the events involving Team Plasma, they hadn't actually know of the existence of Pokéballs until after the fact, but after it had happened she had developed a soft spot in her heart for the boy. And she knew that while he would never admit it Zekrom felt the same for Black.

"_Lord Arceus,"_ She began. _"Perhaps an-"_She was going to suggest that he make an announcement of sorts through either the Princess she had been told of or using his daughters' psychic powers, she was, however, interrupted when an explosion rocked the temple.

**BOOOOMM!**

The temple stopped shaking after a moment.

"_What was that?"_ Zekrom asked.

The duo looked to Arceus, who had his eyes shut as he tried to discern the epicenter of the blast. _"I'm about to find out."_ The Alpha Pokémon disappeared in a flash of gold light and reappeared a moment later floating above a giant crater in the Everfree forest, he immediately picked up on the swirling streams of energy that littered the area, and recognized the energy signature of one of the legendaries.

Unnoticed by Arceus another flash of golden light brought three Alicorns into existence on the opposite side of the crater.

Celestia surveyed the scene and recognized the magical signature of a certain lord of chaos. "Discord!" she shouted, calling the Draconequus' name half in anger and half in worry.

"_Zygarde!"_ Arceus called the Order Pokémon with the same tone.

The god and the princesses noticed each other and quickly turned to face each other. Before either of them could say anything, a pained groan brought their attention to a swath of broken trees at the edge of the crater. Recognizing the voice, the princesses ran to offer their assistance, Celestia shot Arceus a _"We need to talk"_ look before joining her sister and student.

Arceus, piecing together what must have happened, turned to face opposite the way the alicorns had ran. There he saw yet another swath of fallen trees and upturned ground leading away from the crater. He floated to the end of the wreckage and found Zygarde, unconscious, battered and covered in cuts and scrapes, but alive.

"_What did you do?"_ Arceus asked the unconscious Pokémon, getting no response from Zygarde, Arceus sighed and picked the Order Pokémon up in a psychic grasp. Soon, the pair were back at the crater, waiting at the edge of the forest where Celestia, Luna and Twilight had disappeared into.

Not a moment later the three of them reemerged from the forest carrying the half-awake body of Discord in their magic. When the chaos lord saw Arceus and Zygarde, his eyes snapped fully open.

"KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME!" He started squirming in the magic until the Alicorns let him down and he hid behind Celestia. "THAT SNAKE TRIED TO KILL ME!"

Celestia and the others all glared at Arceus. _"I have no idea what happened."_ He answered truthfully, he had yet to examine the time stream to figure out what had transpired recently.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED!" Discord replied. "ZYGARDE WENT FULL 'ORDER' AND TRIED TO VAPORIZE ME!"

Arceus looked at Discord in confusion, then turned to the princesses. _"Why is he screaming?"_

Twilight looked to Discord, a half-lidded expression of slight annoyance on her face. There was sadness in her eyes as well, but the annoyance was dominant. "Because whatever caused that explosion rendered him completely deaf." She put a hoof to her head. "Ow. He's only been screaming for two minutes and I already have a headache."

"WHAT?"

Arceus looked over the chaos lord. He had a broken arm and was as badly beaten as Zygarde, which meant that the Order Pokémon was also probably deaf. Arceus sighed.

"_Heal Pulse."_

A pink shock wave traveled outwards from Arceus and the energy was quickly absorbed by the battered bodies of Discord and Zygarde. Cuts closed, bruises vanished, ear drums healed and Discord's broken arm reshaped itself and fused back together.

Zygarde suddenly jolted awake. When he saw Arceus and the princesses all staring at him, he recoiled slightly. _"Isss everything alright, my lord?"_ He asked nervously.

"_No,"_ Arceus answered._"What happened and what does Discord mean 'you tried to vaporize him?'"_

"_That creature attacked me,"_ Zygarde answered, glaring at Discord, the chaos lord stuck his tongue out at the Order Pokémon. _"And in an attempt to stop him I fired pure order at him."_

Celestia's eyes went wide. "Pure order? Even the elements are enchanted to dilute harmony so that they only petrify Discord, otherwise," She looked guiltily to the Draconequus still hiding behind her. "It could dispel him."

Zygarde huffed and turned away. _"He would reform; chaosss alwaysss doesss."_

"Maybe in a thousand years!" Luna shouted. The three Alicorns glared at the Order Pokémon.

Arceus shook his head. _"Zygarde, you're in time out."_ His eyes flashed gold and a swirling portal of darkness opened beneath the Ground-Type.

"_Wait, I-"_ The portal closed as Zygarde fell through, leaving the Alicorns and Draconequus staring at Arceus, eyes wide and mouths gaping.

"W-where did you s-send him?" Twilight asked nervously.

"_Distortion World,"_ Arceus answered simply. _"My youngest son, Giratina; you met him yesterday, big dragon, golden spikes, flowing red and black wing type things? He rules that particular pocket dimension and whenever I need to I drop a troublesome being in there for a while."_ The ponies still looked horrified and Discord was silently hoping Celestia didn't get any ideas. _"Don't worry, it's pretty much empty and harbors nothing that would be a threat to any of the legendaries."_

Celestia took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Arceus," She said sternly. "We need to talk."

"_Yes,"_ He sighed, he had known this was coming. _"I suppose we do."_ He turned to look at the large crater behind him. _"But first…"_

Arceus pulled the Meadow Plate from his pocket dimension and switched to Grass-Type. He then concentrated his energy on the surrounding area. The ground began to bubble and it rose up wards, evenly filling the crater. Then, with the Meadow Plate in place, he caused the vegetation to grow until it was filled in with trees similar in both appearance and energy to those of the Eterna Forest of Sinnoh.

"_Now then,"_He turned back to Celestia. _"Shall we be off?"_

The moment he said that, a golden light invoked him and Princess Celestia, whisking the two away and leaving Luna, Twilight, and Discord staring in confusion as the light faded. Luna's ear twitched in annoyance. "Just Tia," she said through gritted teeth. "It's always just Tia."

"Come on, Lulu," Discord grabbed Luna, who was still staring at the spot her sister had been a moment before. "Let's get back to Canterlot."

"But we have to find Celestia!" Twilight shouted. "She could be in trouble, Arceus could be torturing her, or brainwashing her, or–" A flash of golden light left a piece of paper floating down and landing on Twilight's nose.

She grabbed it in her magic and looked it over.

_Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, and Lord Discord,_

_(Especially Twilight)_

_Don't worry, I'm not going to harm Celestia, she and I just need to work a few things out. And Luna, I needed someone to make sure Canterlot didn't fall apart (Literally, that explosion was a fusion of chaotic and orderic energy, I'd check the foundation) I promise I'll have her back in a few hours at the most._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Lord Arceus._

Twilight looked over the letter, reread it, checked the back, then showed it to Discord and Luna.

Luna was still upset about being left out, but was glad she hadn't just been forgotten. Discord, under Twilight's request, tried, and failed, to backtrack the letter. In the end the Discord, still powered up from the chaos of the world and, thanks to Arceus, now fully healed, teleported himself and the two disgruntled alicorns back to Canterlot to wait for the princess's return.


	15. Chapter 13

Celestia blinked and surveyed her surroundings. She was confused for a second as she had just been standing with her sister, Twilight, and Discord, watching Arceus rebuild a portion of the Everfree only a moment ago, and now she was… she actually had no idea where she was.

The room was made of marble, like Canterlot Palace, but instead of smooth and white, it was light brown and paneled. There was a small table with no more than five seats surrounding it. Each seat was large enough for an Alicorn… or something a bit larger.

"_Welcome to the official Pokémon-Equus meeting hall."_ A now familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

Celestia spun around quickly to see Arceus standing behind her, his normal white coat was tinted a very light green and his underbelly was a darker shade, the normally golden ring around his body was also green and the gems were now yellow. The god either didn't notice or didn't care at the moment.

"What?" Celestia gawked, temporarily ignoring his new appearance.

"_I decided a more... neutral, meeting place was needed for when I meet with Equus officials."_ Arceus answered.

"You mean… besides me?" Celestia asked, both relieved and worried at the same time.

"_Yes, eventually."_ Arceus answered. _"While interesting, the Hall of Legends has always been a bit difficult for most to reach."_

This confused Celestia. "Didn't you bring it here?"

"_Yes, but it has a sort of... spirit of its very own." _Arceus had created the Hall of Legends as a physical focal point for the Hall of Origins, which was ethereal. He had even succeeded in connecting the two in such a way that they occupied the same space, but in different planes of existence.

Celestia decided to ignore Arceus' last statement and looked around the room. She noticed for the first time that there were two doors on adjacent sides of the room, one was a Canterlot Palace door, white marble with golden hinges and locks. The other was a large stone door that was the same brown as the walls. It was intricately carved with complex designs, circles and branching lines which curved in every direction. In the center of each door was a red gem, ringed with gold and carved with designs just as intricate as the door.

Arceus noticed the objects of Celestia's interests and began to explain. _"As I said, a more neutral area," _He walked over to the stone door and it swung open at his approach. Behind the door was a hallway with a large wall painting of Arceus himself, set on a field of gold, just beneath him were each of his sons, Dialga on the left set on a blue background, Giratina, in his Origin Form on a swirling field of red and black, Palkia, on the right was set in front of a field of pink. Each of their respective gems floated by their side, and in Arceus' case, his seventeen plates swirled around him.

"_This one leads to the Hall of Legends," _He walked to the other side of the room, Celestia staring as the doors closed. As Arceus reached the other door it too swung open, this time revealing several pane glass windows that Celestia recognized, one showed six mares, each firing a purple ray at an pitch black Alicorn, another showed Celestia and Luna circling the petrified form of Discord. _"And this, as you can tell, leads straight to Canterlot Palace."_

Celestia gave into her curiosity. "And where is this room then? It can't be in both places at once." Celestia knew several ways to create a room like this, although the spells for them were taxing on even her.

Arceus shrugged. _"I suppose it's in a space all its own, and I'm sorry about the random door in your hallway, I can move it later if you wish."_

Celestia raised an eyebrow. Arceus had a different tone in his voice than he had when she had met him in the Everfree yesterday. "Is everything alright, Arceus?" Celestia asked, she decided to drop the "Lord" as Arceus' actions had upset her, yet she was still worried, mainly that something had gone wrong with the Pokémon, or the fabric of reality.

"_Um, well I..."_ Arceus shifted awkwardly. _"I'm sorry."_

"Excuse me?" Celestia hadn't heard what the god had said.

"_I'm sorry." _He said a bit louder.

The edges of Celestia's mouth threatened to turn her frown into a smirk. "One more time?"

Arceus glared at her. _"I'm… sorry."_

Celestia finally lost control, she smirked wider than Discord had when he replaced Rarity's shampoo with green mane dye.

Arceus continued. _"I realize that my actions have caused unnecessary complications for all parties involved, I am working on repairing the situation the best I can."_ Arceus had seen enough futures to realize that his own actions could lead to many tragedies for one group or the other.

Celestia's smile became genuine and she walked up to Arceus. "I'm glad you realized this yourself, but I can't let you return to Earth anymore." Celestia didn't care if she ruined her one shot to get rid of the Pokémon, her heart wouldn't let her send them back to that world, for more than one reason.

"_Oh, really?"_ Arceus said. _"And why is that?"_ Arceus knew exactly why, Mewtwo's origin was the worst of any legendaries, even Genesect hadn't been as mistreated as the Genetic Pokémon.

Celestia just glared at him. "You know why. Your ambassador?"

"_Ah, I suppose Mewtwo showed you his origin, didn't he?"_ Arceus said with a chuckle.

"You know he did." Celestia replied curtly.

Arceus nodded. _"Good."_ Arceus was glad that he didn't have to show her what Team Galactic had done, or Team Flare.

Celestia sighed and hung her head. "When you told me you did this to protect the Pokémon… I didn't think you meant something like that."

Arceus shook his head. _"I hate Team Rocket with a burning passion... although in terms of goals, they weren't even the worst."_

Celestia immediately snapped to attention, eyes wide with disbelief. "But, that man… he wanted to conquer the world. What else–? Actually, I don't believe I want to know." Celestia didn't need any more information. "But since you've reached the conclusion that staying here could be a problem-"

"_I can't leave." _Arceus suddenly spoke up.

"Come again?" Celestia couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"_I no longer have enough power to travel to another dimension."_ Arceus explained. _"I used more energy yesterday to get here than I have since I made Earth a habitable planet."_

Celestia's ear twitched in annoyance. "Well... you're kidding right?" She asked hopefully. "You said you're all powerful, there has to be something you can do."

Arceus sighed again. _"I said I was a god and proved it to you – I never said I was all powerful." _Arceus turned away from the princess and walked slowly around the room. _"To become truly omnipotent and all powerful, I would have to become what I was when I first hatched, all those eons ago,"_

"Wait, eons?"

"_To do that, I would have to reabsorb all energy that came directly from me. I would not only have to completely absorb the Elemental Plates,"_ He paused for a moment realizing something, and willed the Meadow Plate from his body, it floated in the air for a moment before disappearing into Arceus' pocket dimension as the now Normal-Type's color scheme returned to normal. _"I would have to absorb all my children, as well as my precious granddaughter. My children are my power."_

The Alpha Pokémon turned to the Alicorn. _"I could never do something so horrendous."_

Arceus' voice was tinged with horror from the very thought of destroying his children. Celestia could practically feel the sadness emanating from the Pokémon, then realized sadness was _literally_ emanating from the Pokémon.

She walked over to him. "Arceus, you claim to know of this world so you should realize, I would never ask _anyone_ to do something like that, I would go out of my way to stop such a travesty."

Arceus shook his head. _"I know, it's just that for me my children are, and in quite a literal way, a part of who I am."_ Arceus had to hold back tears. _"They're more precious to me than anything."_

Celestia was silent for a moment. "It was for them, wasn't it?" Arceus turned to her. "For your children, and the legendaries, they're the reason for all of this." She gestured around the room to indicate the situation.

Arceus was silent for a moment. _"They're my family; every one of them. The legendaries, I mean," _Memories raced to Arceus. _"And they tried to use them for their own purposes."_

Thoughts of the different groups that had harmed his family danced in the god's mind, but one man stood out amongst the rest.

"_Lysandre."_ Arceus whispered.

"What was that?" Celestia asked, Arceus ignored her.

Arceus shook his head, clearing his mind of the possible futures he had seen during the Team Flare incident, those horrors were better left in the past, or possible past, as it may be.

"_Apologies, Princess,"_ Arceus said as he turned back to the Alicorn. _"My mind wandered for a moment, now where were we?"_

"You were talking about your family." Celestia reminded him.

"_Yes, I couldn't leave them to deal with the humans any longer, nor could I leave the other Pokémon, they suffered and, to some, were nothing more than animals and the means to an end."_

Celestia pursed her lips. She was finding it harder and harder to remain angry at him for what he did, she was still upset about how he had gone about achieving his goal but she understood why he had done it. The Princess sighed. "You said you had a plan?"

Arceus suppressed a grin. _"Soon I'm going to reveal my plan to the world, and explain everything all at once. Hopefully that will clear up a few things."_

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do?" She asked, fearful of the answer.

"_I'll make an announcement, perhaps call a meeting with the different leaders… although, I suppose you were already planning something like that, weren't you?"_

Celestia's expression morphed to one of annoyance. "Perhaps." She answered nonchalantly. She had hoped to keep the plan for such a meeting away from Arceus until the last moment, in hopes of keeping the god himself from attending.

Arceus decided not to unnerve the Princess any more than he sensed he had. _"No matter, we shall cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime I know you have some questions that you would like to ask regarding the Pokémon."_

Celestia nodded.

"_Well then," _Arceus walked over to the meeting table and sat in the chair directly in front of the door leading to the Hall of Legends. _"Shall we begin?"_

Celestia smiled and took the seat opposite of Arceus, directly in front of the door leading to Canterlot Castle.

The pair sat in silence for a moment before Celestia asked her first question. "How do you know so much of Equus?" Arceus developed a puzzled expression and the Princess elaborated. "You know of the different countries, you know of my sister and I, as well as the Elements, how exactly did you learn these things?"

Arceus was silent for a moment before answering. _"I can read the sands of time," _He began. _"As a god, I am able to view the past and the future in an instant and at the same time, I saw your history before I came here; it was a bit of… research, I suppose. And since then have continued to look across the world."_

This answer surprised Celestia. "Wait, doesn't that mean you can see the future?" Celestia wasn't a fan of the notion that the future was set in stone, that it could be read like a book and was unchangeable, although a friend of hers had assured her this was nowhere near true.

Arceus chuckled. _"In a way, I can view all possible futures but an exact reading will be accurate for, at most, an hour or so into the future, and even that is difficult, I need to take in all possible criteria to see how it will affect the outcome of certain events."_

Celestia nodded and thought for a moment, she remembered something Juniper had said at the last meeting. "What happened to you? I've been told you were imprisoned but… how is that possible?"

Arceus sighed and shook his head. _"The same way you imprisoned Discord. Planning, the correct beings, these being angered humans, and powerful artifacts, other than that I will not say for my own safety."_

Celestia hid her frown, she had hoped to gain insight into what could stop a being as powerful as Arceus in case she ever needed to.

Celestia decided to get off the subject with another question that had been bugging her. "The humans," She began. "I want you to explain what your plan was in bringing them here, and making them Pokémon."

Arceus thought for a moment, then sighed. _"They deserved it."_

Celestia looked at him quizzically as he continued.

"_Mew created the humans, just as she did the other Pokémon, everything is related back to her, even if some of the scientists won't believe it. And I wasn't going to leave those who had done nothing wrong on Earth, which, considering the type of humans left there, won't be a pretty sight very soon."_

Celestia shook her head.

"_Since I couldn't check every human on the planet to see if they were worthy, I used the memories of the council, all of whom had experience with humans, to decide what type of humans I would bring."_ Arceus smiled. _"Ones who took care of Pokémon, even ones who weren't their own, who treated them as their equals, ones like young Gene who found true love in their Pokémon companions. I knew some of them, probably most of them, would at first be upset, but given time I'm sure they'll adapt," _He looked back up at the Princess._"They always do."_

"If you have so much faith in the ones you brought why did you even bother changing their form?" Despite having been given an answer yesterday, being alone with Arceus meant his answer would likely be more in-depth.

"_I didn't want history to repeat itself,"_ He explained. _"After enough time, the descendants of the ones I chose might again begin to see Pokémon as tools, and perhaps the ponies as well."_

Celestia's eyes went wide as the Alpha Pokémon continued.

"_But in making them Pokémon I ensured that humans will never again see Pokémon as subordinates, because their children will never even be human."_ Arceus smiled. _"Given enough time, humanity will fade into the mists of history… just as I nearly did."_

"That seems a bit… extreme," Celestia replied. "With you back in power, couldn't you keep the humans in line? I mean, making their descendants forget about what they could have been? That's almost cruel."

Arceus sighed. _"You realize that, even here in Equestria, their stupid idea of racial purity would have condemned people and Pokémon like Gene and Belle, or even ones who fell in love with your ponies. At the very least they would be shunned, and at the worst, hunted as they were back on Earth."_

Celestia's ears drooped. That was actually depressing to hear. "I'll need to have my niece talk with the former humans when next we meet." She commented

"_Mind if I borrow her later on?"_ Arceus asked. _"I have a few legendaries who could use some advice."_

Celestia eyed him curiously for a moment, then shrugged and began to think. That's the humans, his knowledge, and his imprisonment. What else? Celestia smiled as she developed an idea.

"Arceus, since it is obvious that you are going to be here for the foreseeable future."

"_I won't be back to full power for at least a few decades at which point ponies and Pokémon will have accepted each other, one way or the other." _

_Or they'll try to kill each other and I'll have terraformed and moved the Pokémon to the moon. Either way._ While Arceus truthfully was no longer able to jump through dimensions with millions of beings he did still have enough power to move them to another planet, so long as it was in a nearby solar system, but Arceus still believed the ponies and Pokémon could positively influence each other and since Celestia hadn't asked he wasn't telling.

Celestia took a deep breath and continued. "I feel it would be... helpful if we got to know each other, so please." She nodded towards him.

Arceus was silent for a moment. _"Where do I even begin,"_ He wondered aloud. _"I've been around longer than the universe itself, when I was young I shaped planets and stars, galaxies bent to my will and even black holes were my play things." _He closed his eyes as he tried to remember anything specific from back then. _"Time itself wasn't even there before me, and it had no hold on me. I skated through time like a foal on an ice rink."_

Arceus' eyes opened suddenly, a light golden glow filling them. _"I visited other dimensions and saw wonders upon wonders, I met beings as powerful as myself and yet,"_ He looked away. _"I was restless, the other gods had families, worshippers, and worlds filled with life, none of them had time for a free roaming god whose homeworld was empty space."_

Celestia listened intently as Arceus told her his tale. _"I was always drawn back to the universe I created and, finding no companionship in the other worlds, I decided to create my own, but I had little knowledge in making life so, in my ignorance, I split a part of my power and the energy of time to create a being in my own image."_

Arceus smiled. _"As soon as I had split my power I suddenly felt more... I suppose the word would be 'alive'. Having lessened my hold on the force of time I began to see things clearly, and I wanted more, I wanted to be able to see what the other gods saw, so I split my power over space, then antimatter." _A tear rolled down the god's cheek. _"It was then, having disconnected from the three forces that control the universe that I realized just how empty my former life had been, a wandering god with no one who truly cared for him, and no one to care for, then I saw the beings I had shaped, nay, birthed. And I wept with joy as I embraced the newborns, my sons, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina."_

More tears slid down the god's face as he recalled the first thing that could truly count as a memory, anything before being a hazy remembrance that was more akin to a dream.

"_I taught them to control their powers, and taught them things I had formerly been ignorant of, compassion, kindness, love… hmm, odd how much that has in common with your student's story, isn't it?"_

Celestia smiled. "I suppose so." She said quietly.

Arceus returned to his story. _"As time passed I decided to try my hoof at making life, I created Earth, the sun, and the moon, plants and water were easy enough but my attempts at complex life were lack luster. After much contemplation I decided to create another child and gift unto them an imagination unlike any other, as well as my command over genetic manipulation; that was the day I birthed Mew, my first daughter." _Arceus remembered that day fondly, he had been so worried about raising a daughter that he almost missed when she created a tiny purple blob, at first Arceus thought the creature was a fluke, until its shape became more solid and the face appeared.

Arceus couldn't have been prouder, not even a day old and Mew was already creating life. The 'Ditto' as Mew named them, weren't the most creative creatures, the New Species Pokémon had literally just copied her transformative power and given it a form, but Arceus cared for them all the same.

"_Mew was so sweet and innocent when she was young... ok, she's still sweet and innocent but she wasn't as mischievous back then, actually she was but... heh, heh, she really hasn't changed that much at all."_

Arceus shook his head, clearing his thoughts._"She created her first Pokémon, Ditto, only a few hours after her birth, within a year, there were dozens of Pokémon species on the planet. I then created, but didn't birth, Regigigas, Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre to shape the planet itself."_

Arceus developed a small frown. _"They did a good enough job, until Groudon and Kyogre caused a mass extinction event."_

Celestia's eyes went wide. "Who did what now?" She was now worried about an entirely different group of legendaries.

"_One represents land, one represents sea. They caused tidal waves and volcanic eruptions all over the planet, that got them stuck in the Distortion World for a few weeks."_

Arceus sighed. _"Everything worked out in the end, even the species that went extinct ended up being resurrected several thousand years later."_

It was then Celestia realized something. "Arceus?"

"_Mew then created hundreds of new species of Pokémon, including humans, to fill the world."_

"Arceus?"

"_I tried to improve humans by birthing Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf, the Psychic Guardians, to reshape their minds, this worked but eventually it led to them segmenting away from the other Pokémon. And eventually to them imprisoning my sons, Regigigas, his sons, Jirachi, and myself."_

"Arceus!" Celestia shouted.

The god looked to the Princess in confusion. _"Yes?"_

Celestia cleared her throat. "That is all extremely, extremely, interesting, and raises many questions, but I asked about you, not your children and the world you helped build, but you, Arceus, as a… Pokémon, as it may be."

Arceus blinked. _"Well... what do you want to know?"_ No one had really ever asked about Arceus himself, his family knew him and even when they worshipped him, the humans were too scared to hold much of a conversation, and Arceus no longer went hopping through dimensions as he once had.

"Well," Celestia began. "Just tell me something about yourself that doesn't relate to your children, a hobby, something you like; anything really." Celestia had become an expert in dealing with international affairs through just talking to others like this, and she hoped it would hold against a god.

Arceus thought on this for a moment. Having been imprisoned for a thousand years meant Arceus had not had time to become interested in anything; he hadn't had a hobby since he took up world crafting, and that a was full time job – even trivial information escaped him. Since he had no mouth didn't eat, and therefore had no favorite food. He did, however, have a favorite color. _This is sad,_ Arceus decided. _I'll talk to some of the others and see about taking up a hobby. Perhaps I can learn to play some form of instrument._

Arceus decided to just tell Celestia of his predicament, and maybe his favorite color. _"Well, you see, I-"_

He was interrupted when the door leading to Canterlot Castle creaked open and a pink Earth Pony stuck her head in. Pinkie Pie was silent for a moment then said, in a very upset and urgent voice, "This isn't a bathroom!" before rushing out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Arceus and Celestia looked at each other, and this time Arceus had a question to ask. It was really very simple, but at the same time, infinitely complicated. _"What's with her anyway?"_

* * *

Discord stood in his room, planning… and those are words that should never go together.

After Discord, Twilight and Luna had returned to the castle, Luna had gone to take care of whatever royal business had come up in their absence and Twilight had gone to find her friends. This left Discord alone and without any sort of chastising for his actions in the Everfree, and this somehow meant, to the chaos lord, that he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Hmmm," Discord scratched his chin, looking over a blackboard. "Yes, yes, quite possible," The door to Discord's balcony was wide open, allowing the excess chaos to flow into the Draconequus. He had already surpassed his normal power levels and they were still rising.

Discord snapped his fingers and a small red and white orb appeared in his talons, he rolled over the smooth surface as he considered it. "Nah!" He tossed the orb and it landed with a clatter as it hit the ground. "That would be way too obvious."

Discord was trying to figure out how to defeat Zygarde the next time he encountered the Order Pokémon, and he knew they would meet again. Discord figured that he didn't have long before Celestia or Luna figured out what the inhibitor was doing to him and then his only hope would be to stuff Bio Chem in a closet... again, and hope the sisters wouldn't try to remove it without him.

Discord swiped away the blackboard, but the board itself, the lines and words on it remained in the air, and began pacing. "I'm not thinking big enough here." He told himself.

"Zygarde came from a whole other world, so maybe…" He paused as he considered his plan. "Maybe I can use my boosted powers and the multiverse thingy to my advantage!"

Discord poked the fabric of reality, it felt like an odd blend of satin and peanut butter. And it was weak. "I could open a window into a new world, but that could rip apart the already unstable fabric of the universe. Hmm, hard to choose."

Discord quickly decided to take the risk, and used his powers to poke a tiny hole in the fabric of space time, just a peep hole really. Discord looked through the hole and saw a swarming mass of green tentacles surrounding one red eye in the vastness of spa- Discord shut the portal quickly.

"Ew." He said. "Let's try another."

This time he made the hole a bit bigger, and this time was greeted with the sight of a colossal lizard rampaging through a city much like Manehattan. "Tempting, but we have enough dragons." Discord hit the portal and it spun like a coin on its side coming to a stop on a new world. Discord peered into a silver room filled with beings wearing red and yellow shirts. A bald, ape-like creature sat in a chair in the center. "Captain's log stardate-" Discord snapped the portal closed as someone knocked at his door.

"Discord?" Fluttershy's voice came from outside, there was worry in her voice. "Are you in there?" Discord smiled, then looked around his room and sighed.

"I'll get back to you later." He snapped his fingers and his room returned to normal. His cotton candy cloud bed in one corner, his chocolate milk fountain in another, his thinking tree in the center... a picture of him and Fluttershy on his nightstand.

He opened his door and smiled down at the little Pegasus. "Well, hello Fluttershy," He said with a grin. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I just wanted to come by and make sure you were alright," Fluttershy said softly. "I heard you got in a fight with one of the Pokémon and I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, I'm fine," He replied. "All healed up now and just doing some… thinking."

"Oh, um, alright, if you wanna be alone I can always-"

"Now, now my dear," Discord scooped up the little mare and carried her into his room before putting her back down. "You know I always have time for my dearest friend Fluttershy."

Fluttershy smiled as Discord turned back to close the window, having absorbed enough power for a while, but as he did this, she noticed something next to his nightstand. She walked over to it as Discord shut the door.

"So anything in particular you'd like to talk about?" He asked. "Pokémon, gods, what time we're having tea next Sunday?"

"D-Discord?" Fluttershy stammered, disbelief and fear in her voice.

The chaos lord turned to see his friend holding a red and white orb with a small white button in the center. "What's this doing here?"


	16. Chapter 14

There were very few things that Princess Luna hated. Ponies who thought her Night Guards were vampires? Pity. The technological advancements made in her absence? Interested. Night clubs? LOVE! Prince Blueblood... alright, him, she hated. But Luna begrudgingly accepted the tedious political dealings that came with running a country.

What Luna had never thought would happen was that she would actually be interested in a disaster report that came from somewhere other than Ponyville.

"...And Trottingham is reporting heavy damage done by what they described as a "Steel plated Dragon" And that the attack could have been a lot worse had the monster not been stopped by a, and I'm quoting this. "Six foot tall fire breathing bird and a bipedal fox in a dress with a wand that also shot fire." Both of which are currently in town hall, trying to communicate with the mayor."

The stallion reading the report looked up at the Lunar Princess, worried that she might think he had gone insane.

Luna just nodded. Normally she might have thought the pegasus had indeed lost his mind, or that Discord had visited Trottingham, but today was different, and judging by how things were going, they might remain different indefinitely. Luna wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Continue." She said, looking at the Swablu perched on her shoulder and considering the Pokémon.

The stallion gulped. "Umm, the lightning factory in Cloudsdale, is reporting mechanical difficulties in the machines used to create electricity and charge the clouds; the scientists say there's something producing an electromagnetic field around the building and is draining the energy but have been unable to figure out what's causing it."

Luna considered sending Bio Chem to check this one out, the stallion was surprisingly adept at dealing with technology of all kinds, plus Luna was beginning to worry he would do something rash if left to study the Pokémon by himself.

"Manehattan has sent reports of several Sea Serpent type creatures that have appeared in the bay and attacked a few boats, no real damage though, as well as a flock of steel birds that are attempting to make a nest in the statue of Neighberty."

_If these kind of problems are normal in the Pokémon world_, Luna thought to herself. _Then I wonder how the humans ever got past huts and covered wagons_. Indeed Luna was confused as to how a species with no powers themselves came to be dominant on a planet with beings of greater power, all of which had some kind of magical abilities, and in some cases, greater intelligence.

The stallion, ignorant to the Princess' thoughts, continued down the list. "Appeloosa has been experiencing an abnormally severe sand storm and the locals claim some kinda Dra-"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The messenger was interrupted when a white unicorn stallion with a blond mane ran into the room, shoving the doors open.

"KILL IT! KILL IT! SEND IT TO THE MOON! AUNTY!" Blueblood cried as the "stallion" saw Luna sitting at the throne. Before Luna could even ask what was going on, the Houndoom from earlier. _Fang_Luna thought he was called, rushed into the room, growling, his eyes locked on Blueblood.

"Grrrr…" The Pokémon growled as he ran after the Prince, closing the distance rather quickly and knocking him to the ground.

"Ahh!" Blueblood screamed as Fang stared down at the Unicorn with hatred in his eyes, and was then blasted with energy from his horn.

Fang yelped and flew halfway across the room but landed on his feet, he silently thanked Arceus for his immunity to Psychic-types before running after Blueblood once more. The unicorn's blasts still hurt, but nowhere near as much as they should have.

As Luna watched the scenario before her unfold, she sighed. "We will continue this later." She nodded to the messenger, and he saluted and quickly left the room.

Luna turned to Blueblood, who was now hiding behind the throne, then looked to Fang, who looked to pounce but was hesitant because of his proximity to Luna.

"Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?" Luna asked aloud.

Blueblood looked at Luna like she'd gone crazy. "Aunty, one of those… monsters got into the castle!"

Luna winced when Blueblood called her "Aunty"; she had no idea if she was actually related to him, but she would sooner announce to Equestria that Discord was her uncle, not that he was, but the point still stood.

"Blueblood," Luna began. "What have you been up to for the past two days?" She was now officially worried that her "nephew" had caused an international incident… again.

"Well, after that dreadful explosion yesterday, I sequestered myself in the safety of my abode," Luna counted how many of the words Blueblood used could be easily replaced, so far she was at three, it always helped her pass the time when she had to talk with him. "Then I learned about these disgusting monsters that have infested the city."

"Grrrr..."

"Swa?"

"And when I raced here to acquire some guards to... take care of them, I found that beast!" He pointed to Fang, who cocked his head. "It was wandering the halls, so I did the only thing I could."

"And what, pray tell, was that?" Luna asked.

Blueblood blinked once, then smiled. He lit up his horn and fired a magic blast at Fang. Unfortunately for him, the canine saw the blast coming and leapt out of the way, landing and barking angrily at the prince.

Luna gaped at what she had just seen, then turned to Blueblood, that cocky smile of his still on his face. "Now, where is Aunty Celestia, as I said I wish to acquire some guards to – ahhh!"

Blueblood was suddenly surrounded by a dark blue aura and throw to the front of the throne, he landed in front of Luna, who stared down at him. Fang smiled as he saw his target clear of the nice pony and licked his chops.

"One moment, Fang." Luna said to the Pokémon as he prepared to pounce. Fang whined but sat obediently and waited, Gene had told him he should listen to the ponies from the meeting, but only those ponies.

Luna turned back to Blueblood, who was brushing himself off indignantly. "Aunty! What has–?"

"Quiet, you pompous little ingrate." Luna snapped. "And stop calling me Aunty." Blueblood stood there, mouth agape, as Luna continued. "I don't care what my sister says, if this is how you are going to act then I will not tolerate any relations between the two of us." Luna took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Now, I'm going to explain what is going on with these creatures," She gestured to Fang, who was still staring at Blueblood, almost hungrily at this point. "And you are going to listen."

Blueblood didn't speak, which Luna took as a good sign, and began to explain. "First off, these creatures are members of a race called Pokémon, and they are just as intelligent as a normal pony,"

_Which makes them about ten times smarter than you_. She thought to herself.

"And I am not going to allow you to start some of crusade to round them all up and do harmony knows what to them." Luna paused for a moment. "In fact, if I hear about any such thing and find that you are at all involved, I will personally throw you in the dungeon."

Blueblood took a step back, he couldn't believe that the Princess had just spoken to him like that. "But-but they're just animals!" Blueblood shouted. "That beast is nothing more than some kind of mangy mutt!"

Fang's head swiveled around to glare at the stallion. "Mutt." He growled, his mind jumping back to before Gene had found him. "Beast." His eyes lit with fire as he stood up and turned to the unicorn. "Houndooom!" He roared, simultaneously using the attack by the same name.

Blueblood's false bravado dropped and he felt the sudden urge to flee. He took off running, but Fang followed, snapping at his heels.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" Blueblood screamed as he ran around the room, somehow remaining ahead of the Fire-type. Fang was however, slowly gaining ground, but when Blueblood turned back he saw flames licking at the dog's maw, Fang lost some ground as Blueblood pushed himself harder than he ever had before.

Luna was considering what to do. _Assuming Fang is in fact carnivorous, this situation might clean itself up_. Luna wasn't actually going to let Fang kill Blueblood and eat him, she didn't wasn't the dog to eat anything so spoiled. Maybe she'd just let him bite the brat, teach him a lesson.

It was then that Gene and Belle entered the room. "Princess, have you seen Fang? I-"

Gene stopped when he saw his dog chasing Blueblood around the room like a frightened Pidgey. This was actually normal; Fang had a habit of chasing smaller Pokémon for fun. It had gotten him in trouble a few times, mostly when he tried it with something along the lines of a Teddiursa, but he had never actually hurt any Pokémon.

The thing that presented the problem were the flames coming from the canine's mouth.

"Fang!" Gene shouted sternly, causing the Dark Pokémon to stop and wince at his Trainer's – Former Trainer's – he thought glumly, tone of voice.

Gene had his arms crossed and had a no-joke expression on his face. "You stop chasing that stallion and get over here right now!"

Fang whined and slunk over to Gene's side. The Gallade looked at his Houndoom disapprovingly. "I'll talk to you later." He then turned to the unicorn Fang had been chasing and looked at him apologetically and was about to apologize for his Pokémon's actions when Blueblood interrupted him.

"My word, it can speak!" Blueblood said, astounded. "Just what manner of creature are they?" He turned to Luna, completely forgetting what had just occurred as his mind latched onto something new. Normally even Blueblood wouldn't be this stupid, but this time… this time he wanted something. Blueblood trotted up to the Psychic-Types and stopped in front of Belle, who was currently examining Fang's memories. "And what are you?" He said, flashing his teeth in a grin that had fooled many a mare.

Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for the female population of Equus, none of those mares had been high level telepaths that Belle was. Her eyes glowed blue as she turned to glare at the stallion, that cocky grin still on his face.

Remembering what Gene had told her, she decided not to turn the prince into a vegetable; instead, she dumped Fang's recent memories into Gene's head and waited.

It took about ten seconds for Gene to realize what Blueblood had intended to do, what he had done to Fang, and what his was thinking.

"Fang," He said calmly.

"Yes?"

Gene looked to the Houndoom. "Just don't burn him, ok?"

Fang was confused for a moment, then realized what he meant. He nodded in understanding, then arched his back, and glared at Blueblood once more.

Gene turned to Blueblood and gave him a devilish grin. "You have five seconds."

It took three seconds for Blueblood to get the message, and another one for him to turn and run, meaning that he was only a few feet away from Fang when he pounced. Houndooms have very strong legs.

Luna sighed as she watched Blueblood roll helplessly on the ground as Fang tried to pin him. She was about to stop the attack before it went too far when the door was again flung open, this time by Discord, who flew into the room crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lulu!" Discord hid behind the throne. "Make her stop! I already apologized!"

Again, before Luna could ask what was wrong the answer came in the door, in the form of a pink maned, butter yellow pegasus, holding a small red and white sphere in her hoof. "Discord get over here, I'm not done yet!" As Fluttershy flew into the room Belle noticed what she was holding and froze. Her eyes went wide and she put a force field around herself and her mate.

"What is happening?" Luna asked, regarding the situation in general.

Discord shuttered from behind the throne and explained.

"IwastryingtothinkofnewwaystostopZygardeandImadeaPokéballbutIwasn'tgonnauseitIswearandnowFluttershyisreallyreallyreallymad."

Luna paused as she worked over what the chaos lord had just said, only being able to understand it thanks to spending time around Pinkie Pie, then turned to Fluttershy. "You have merely been berating him to the point of a breakdown, yes?"

"Oh of course, Your Highness, I would never actually hurt anyone." Fluttershy said with a smile.

Luna nodded. "In that case." She teleported Discord in front of Fluttershy, then watched as a berating so powerful commenced she considered using Fluttershy against Arceus.

It in itself was amusing, but after a while Discord began running again, and Prince Blueblood and Fang were still fighting… if a Houndoom scaring the living daylights out of a unicorn who knew one attack spell could be considered fighting. Gene and Belle were still within their protective bubble, watching Fluttershy closely.

Luna sighed and turned to Swablu. "I suggest you cover your ears, little one." Swablu darted into Luna's mane again. Luna then cleared her throat.

"_**SILENCE!"**_

She shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Everyone stopped moving and looked at her. "Thank you,"

She began to address the problems. "Fluttershy, I believe that Discord has had enough..." She looked to Gene and Belle. "And as for this abomination," She lifted the Pokéball off the ground and placed it at the foot of the throne. She then got up, walked down the steps, and stomped on it, luckily she had placed it so the capture button was pointing down, the device shattered under the Alicorn's strength, fragments surrounding the button, then she stomped again, and again, and again, until naught but dust remained. Well, dust and a very damaged capture button.

"I believe that takes care of that, now Gene, while I find your logic for sicking Fang on Prince Blueblood sound, I believe it is time to call him off."

Gene sighed and nodded despite his instincts telling him that Blueblood deserved much worse. "Come here, Fang," He called, patting the side of his leg. "Come on, boy."

Fang lopped over to Gene, a devious grin on his muzzle.

Luna surveyed the now quiet throne room. "Now then, I believe-" Luna was once again interrupted when the doors again swung open and a guard came in, panting heavily.

"A thousand apologies, your highness, but Princess Celestia is back, along with some odd being, and they are currently on their way to the meeting room, she asked we gather-"

He couldn't continue, as the Lunar Princess, chaos lord, former Element of Kindness, Houndoom, Gardevoir, and Gallade, all ran past him. He paused for a moment, then went to find the rest of the beings the guards were searching for.

He did not realize he had left Prince Blueblood alone in the throne room. Blueblood just stood there for a moment. Then he looked to the throne. "Hmm," Blueblood walked over to the shattered remains of the Pokéball, examining the button. "I may know somepony who can salvage this."

* * *

Blueblood trotted down a familiar hallway of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and up to a set of doors that were closed, but various sounds of griping and shouting could be heard from inside.

Blueblood gulped, he was always careful around Bio Chem, not for any reason in particular, he was just a slightly unstable stallion.

"H-hello?" He called as he entered the room.

"DUCK!"

Blueblood looked toward the shout and was struck by something blue and purple that cried. "ZZZZZZ!" Before rushing out the door.

"Damn it!" Bio Chem shouted, watching as the creature disappeared. "These things just don't like me."

"Ohhh..."

Bio Chem turned to the prince. "Oh, right, 'ello Blueblood."

The prince stood up and brushed himself off. "Do I even want to know?" He asked irritably.

Bio Chem tapped his chin, thinking. "Knowing you? Probably not." The geneticist trotted over to one of his machines. "So Blueblood, to what do I owe this… vexation?" He said, knowing Blueblood wouldn't understand the word.

The Prince ignored him and pulled the cracked capture button from his suits pocket. "I… found this object and I believe it is related to those creatures that have been appearing, b-"

"Eee!" Bio Chem squealed and snatched the button from Blueblood before plugging it into one of his sensors. "Goody, goody, the princesses won't let me experiment on the Pokémon." He read some lines on a screen and smiled. "Oh, genetically coded laser device."

He grabbed the device and placed it in another device. "Let's see, amp up the power, override genetic lock keys, reroute from damaged circuits and..."

_Zap!_

A red laser shot from the machine, and right towards Prince Blueblood, Bio Chem watched in horror as the laser hit the unicorn, and he spasmed as if he were being shot with electricity.

"Gahahahahaha!" Then the capture button, broken beyond repair, began to short circuit. Then exploded in a "spectacular blast of scientific light!" As Bio Chem would explain it to the head of the school when the explosion was investigated.

Once the smoke cleared a soot covered geneticist and an extra crispy prince sat up and surveyed the damage, well, Bio Chem got up, Blueblood was unconscious.

After a moment Bio Chem winced and turned to Blueblood. "Umm... I think I broke it."

Blueblood twitched in his sleep, this was why Bio Chem was an "Unstable stallion."

* * *

Twilight Sparkle shifted nervously in her seat, and she had a very good reason, actually several.

First she and Professor Juniper had been yanked from the library by a castle guard telling her Celestia was back, then halfway to the meeting hall something had exploded over in her old school, and finally she had arrived to find that Princess Celestia had returned, along with Lord Arceus. Luna, Discord and all her friends, along with Gene, Belle, Korrina, Lucario, Misty, Fang, and, to her surprise and alarm, Mewtwo, also sat in the room.

In short, Twilight Sparkle had a lot of reasons to be stressed. "Uh, don't worry Twi," Spike said from her side. "I'm sure everything's gonna be just fine." The little dragon thoroughly wished he could believe that.

Arceus and Celestia sat on opposite ends of the table, with Luna, Discord and Twilight sitting on either side of the Solar Princess while Mewtwo sat at Arceus' side. Spike was sitting next to Twilight and the other ponies and Pokémon were on either side of the table, every one of them looking rather nervous.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then another minute ticked by, and another, at this point everyone was beginning to wonder just what was going on. Arceus and Princess Celestia, however, had no idea why they hadn't thought up a better plan.

"_Um, Discord?"_ Arceus began, breaking the silence. _"I would like to formally apologize to you for what occurred in the Everfree, I promise I'll sort something out with Zygarde."_

The Draconequus smiled. "Oh, don't trouble yourself," He grinned deviously. "I have a plan."

_That's what I was afraid of._ Arceus thought to himself. _"No matter, now on to business. As some of you may already be aware, Princess Celestia and I have recently had an impromptu meeting to discuss matters involving the Pokémon... and the former humans."_

Korrina smiled. She knew the princess would come through for her, now she could go home, and run her Gym and-

"After Arceus and Mewtwo shared information with me about Earth, I decided that I could not in good conscious force the Pokémon back there."

"What?" Korrina deadpanned.

Celestia frowned. "I realize that this comes as a disappointment to some of you but," She choked. "I'm sorry, but I will not allow innocent beings to be mistreated and discriminated against due to their species, especially one that are sapient."

Luna, Twilight, the other ponies and Spike all stared at Celestia. Not because they outright disagreed with her, but because they were surprised that she had gone from wanting the Pokémon gone to not letting them leave.

Pokémon's reactions were mixed. Korrina looked like she was about to explode, and Misty wasn't faring any better. Lucario was half upset, because he wanted Korrina to be happy, and half excited, because... he looked at Korrina, slumping in her chair now. But quickly looked away. _It's never going to happen_, He told himself. _She's not interested in Pokémon._

_Well, her only alternative here is a pony._ Another part of him argued. _And she knows you better than anyone we've met in this world so far, even if some of the others from Kalos are here_. He referred to the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Diantha, and a few others.

Gene and Belle's reaction was expected. Gene leaned in and kissed his mate lovingly, Belle smiled and thought of the future, including what Gene had done back in their room. Fang smiled and wagged his tail.

Professor Juniper was the most conflicted. She was happy for Gene and Belle, but missed her home. She was glad she had met Twilight, but worried for her friends back in Unova, granted, many of them had probably been dragged along as well. She terribly missed her old body but she was excited because she was now a Psychic-type.

Mewtwo just smirked.

Suddenly something clicked in Korrina's mind. "Well, can you at least make us human again? Just cause we're stuck here doesn't mean we have to be Pokémon."

"Yeah," Misty said in agreement. "As much as I love Water-types, I preferred having hands."

Luna looked to Gene, he held one hand on Belle's arm soothingly and was staring into her eyes. The Gardevoir was either holding back tears at this point or a psychic attack, possibly both.

Arceus shook his head. _"I will not be changing anyone's genetic structure again. And besides,"_ He looked to Gene and smiled. _"Not everyone is entirely displeased with this change."_

Korrina was now utterly and completely pissed, not only was she stuck Arceus knew how far from home, but now that little, that little… pervert had ruined her chances of being human again. She wanted to scream, but she didn't. Partially because she wasn't going to make a fool of herself in front of three princess and two legendaries, partially because she was saving it all for its intended target, but mostly because a sense of calm emanated through her body. She quickly realized that Lucario was using his aura power to keep her from doing anything stupid. It wasn't the first time he had done this.

"T-thank you." She whispered silently to him. Lucario smiled.

Arceus spoke again. _"Now, I have come to the realization that the way in which I performed my actions was, for lack of a better word, inexcusable. I do plan to right them with time, but for now I believe it would be good for any who wishes to speak, about anything regarding the recent events, to come forth,"_

No one spoke for a moment, then to the surprise of all, Fluttershy spoke up. "Um,' I'd like to say something, if that's alright."

"_But of course, miss Fluttershy."_ Arceus said with a nod.

"Thank you, um, I know you're really smart and powerful and I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, it's just... with all the Pokémon here, what about the animals native to Equestria? I mean, a lot of them probably share the same ecological niche, or maybe they don't, I didn't mean to say anything offensive, I'm just worried about my animal friends."

Arceus' eyes widened. He hadn't really thought this one our very much, theoretically given enough time the Pokémon would outcompete most of the native wildlife, save for some of the creatures from the Everfree, but he couldn't tell the ponies he was causing a mass extinction event via invasive species, the princess' would get mad.

_For the love of the universe, please let something cause a distraction_, Arceus prayed. Nothing happened. _"Well, miss Fluttershy,"_ Arceus finally began. _"Equus and Earth are very similar geographically, the Pokémon and your animals evolved to better suit environments found on both planets."_ He tried to think of a way to word the next part, failing he went with a partial truth. _"I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I'll look into it."_ Arceus hadn't actually examined this aspect of the future yet, so he wasn't being completely false.

Fluttershy sighed, but accepted the answer.

"Oh, oh, pick me, pick me!" Pinkie Pie unnecessarily waved her hoof in the air.

"_Yes, miss Pie?"_ Arceus asked with a smile.

"Do you like parties?"

Arceus thought for a moment, he hadn't been to a party since… what was it? He thought Mew had thrown a party for when he created Jirachi, the last legendary made before he was imprisoned.

"_It has been a very long time since I last attended any kind of party, a very long time."_ Arceus answered.

Pinkie Pie gasped. "That is terrible, everybody–! NO, wait!" She tapped her chin and smiled. "That. Is. Perfect!" She jumped in the air and somehow hovered there as she explained. "I can throw you a 'Congrats on Getting out of an Inter-Dimensional Prison" party, and a. 'Welcome to Equus' Party for you, and you, and you, and you, and… all the Pokémon!" Pinkie was beginning to vibrate. Her excitement was reaching critical mass. Readers, please duck.

"And I can throw you two," she pointed to Belle and Gene. "An engagement party, or whatever Pokémon call it. And a big 'Welcome to Ponyville', party extravaganza for all the Pokémon living around Ponyville. This is gonna be so AWESOME!" Pinkie Pie exploded in a burst of confetti, causing the Pokémon present to recoil, yelp, and in Korrina's case, topple backwards.

"Oh, sweet Arceus!" Misty cried, ignoring the fact that she had invoked someone in the room. "She just-"

Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up in her chair, a very confused looking Rotom jumping out of her mane. "Sorry for doing this, but I gotta go!" Pinkie excused herself. "I have some serious party planning to do! Come on, Zap!"

Zap grinned and bolted after Pinkie, actually turning into a bolt of electricity as he shot out of the room.

Discord turned to Celestia. "Can I-?"

"No!" She answered sternly, causing the chaos lord to slump in his seat and pout.

Arceus turned to Mewtwo. _"Mewtwo?"_ He said calmly.

"_Yes my lord?"_ The Genetic Pokémon answered.

"_Make a note: Keep Pinkamena Diane Pie as far from Mew, and Hoopa, as physically possible at all times."_ Arceus was no longer calm.

Again he turned to Celestia and asked the one question everyone continually asked themselves when they knew Pinkie. _"Seriously, what is with her?"_

This time, Twilight answered. "I tried to figure that out once. I broke nearly every bone in my body."

Arceus winced. _"Ok, moving on. Any more questions?"_

Korrina grunted and set her chair back up, but on one spoke.

"_In that case,"_ Arceus rose from the ground, his entire body surrounded by a golden aura. _"I have an announcement to make."_

He disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving everyone wondering the same thing.

"Sister," Luna spoke up. "What does he mean?"

They didn't have to wait long for an answer as not a second later a voice resonated throughout the city, and the world.

_"Attention citizens of Equus, both old and new."_


	17. Chapter 15

_Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new."_ Arceus' voice echoed through the mind of every being on the planet. The Alpha Pokémon, after leaving the meeting, had not only activated the Mind Plate to boost his power, he had also contacted his daughters. Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit had been alerted to their fathers plan before the meeting and had been waiting in the Hall of Legends when their father told them it was time.

Before splitting his psychic powers amongst his daughters he would have been able to do it himself but after birthing the triplets his psychic power had dropped immensely, at this point, he was fairly certain Mewtwo was more powerful, at least psychically.

While Arceus was bonded with the girls the three of them were able to communicate with him, almost instantly, as it was.

"_Dad?"_ Mesprit asked. _"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean this seems..."_

"_Poorly thought out?"_ Uxie supplied.

"_Yeah, I thought the idea was to not cause panic."_

"_Shhh, I wanna see where this leads."_ Azelf said.

Arceus ignored his daughters, although Mesprit did have a good point, he figured that by informing the Pokémon and natives of Equus of the situation he would be able to prevent at least a few disasters, and the Pokémon would be less likely to attack ponies if their god said something, plus having a near omnipotent being tell them not to harm the Pokémon might dissuade some of the more nefarious Ponies, Griffins and various other assorted etcetera's.

"_I am Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokémon realm."_ Arceus noted that a lot of beings were panicking, or in the case of some Pokémon and former humans, groveling. _"You have no reason to fear me, I come in peace."_

"_That sounded like something from one of those movies the humans make. You know, where an army of Deoxys invade and take over."_ Mesprit added, fortunately only her sisters and father could hear her.

"_I have revealed myself to inform you that I am the one responsible for the Pokémon's presence in this world, for the citizens of Equus, the Pokémon are the beings who have appeared over the past few days."_

Arceus could feel the panic ebbing away, replaced with curiosity. _"I have my reasons for bringing them here, and to the leaders I will reveal them in time, but for now a warning, the Pokémon, while some may not seem it, are just as intelligent as any race who calls Equus home, and, seeing as how they are my subjects, I will not tolerate them being treated any differently than you would treat your fellow Pony, Griffin, Minotaur, Diamond Dog, Changeling, Deer, Hippocampi, Zebra, Horse, Buffalo, Cow, Donkey, or Dragon depending on whichever race you belong to."_

Arceus paused as he let that sink in. _"To my Pokémon, I say this, I brought you, all of you, here so that you could live in peace, do not seek to harm the natives of this world, for I am the one responsible for your displacement. And to the Pokémon who went through changes when I brought you here I say this."_ Arceus smiled. _"You are the ones who proved themselves worthy, those who were fair, kind and good in the old world, consider this your reward. And to all of you, as sapients the laws of Equus, and the varying countries, now apply to you, and__**only**__the laws of Equus."_ He hoped he was getting his messages across.

"_That is all for now, but just to be clear, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite, if you have a problem with what I've done, feel free to contact me, I currently reside in an ancient temple deep in the Everfree Forest, or a pocket dimension outside of the space time continuum, so if any of you wish to face the sheer power of a god, feel free to come by."_ Arceus smirked.

"_Goodbye for now, though I doubt this will be the last you hear of me, and peace to you all."_

Arceus stopped transmitting and deactivated his powers. _"Thanks for the help girls, I'll be back soon."_

"_K dad, see ya soon."_ Mesprit said.

"_Bye!"_ Azelf cried happily.

"_Be careful dad, we don't know how Celestia is going to react after this."_ Uxie added.

Arceus smiled. His youngest children were quite often the sweetest beings he had ever encountered. Especially Azelf, the youngest of the trio, although she took after her sister, Mew.

Arceus pulled his consciousness, which had been stretched across the planet so as to transmit his message, back together and he re-materialized outside the meeting room. _Wonder how this is gonna go._ Arceus wondered as he pushed the door open.

Celestia turned to look at him. "That was your plan!?" She asked.

"_It was the quickest way, and besides, I believe that I got my various points across."_

Celestia shook her head. "You realize that I'm going to have to deal with this don't you? The Everfree-"

"_Is technically listed as unclaimed territory ever since you denounced your claim on it after the events surrounding Nightmare Moon."_

"But I'm still going to have to deal with this." Celestia replied, unamused.

"Indeed," Luna added, slumping in her seat. "And you know the Griffins are going to be sticking their beaks into this from every angle."

"_Well how would you have gone about it then, send them a letter saying a god moved millions of beings here and that they all deserve to be treated as equals? No, I wasn't going to take any chances."_ Arceus was not about to let history repeat itself, he was the one who _made_ time and he was not going to allow it to control him.

"Well I for one think it was perfect." Discord smiled and leaned back. "Oh, and for the record, Canterlot is panicking." Discord snapped his fingers and a window opened in the center of the room. It showed Canterlot from an aerial view, various ponies were running around, screaming, and basically freaking out. Several Pokémon were standing around in a daze. Everyone turned to Arceus.

"_Should I try to placate them?"_ Arceus contemplated what to do.

"NO!" All the ponies shouted at once.

"I'll do it myself." Celestia answered, irritation in her voice. The solar princess marched out of the room, Twilight and Luna following her.

Arceus turned back to the rest of the ponies. Then he got an idea. _"Miss Rarity, I understand the majority of Canterlot is rather appreciative of the finer things, correct?"_

"Yes," Rarity answered. "Fashion, fine cuisine, art-"

"_That's all I needed to hear."_ Arceus disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the group behind.

Rainbow Dash looked into the window, then to Rarity. "Hey rares?"

"Yes Rainbow?" She sighed.

"Remember when you said that the Canterlot ponies wouldn't be panicking?"

Rarity's eyes went wide as she remembered. "Rainbow Da-"

"I told ya so!" Rainbow shouted. Rarity rolled her eyes.

Applejack sighed, then realized that Mewtwo was still in the room, sitting silently in his seat, arms crossed. "Uhh, you have any idea what he's plannin' this time?" She asked.

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow and looked at the mare. _"Lord Arceus' plans are beyond the comprehension of mortals, even the other legendaries-"_

"You have no idea, do ya?" Applejack interrupted.

Mewtwo stared wide eyed at the mare, not believing that she had said that to a legendary. He pushed away from the table and floated out the door.

"AJ?" Dash walked over to her friend. "I don't think you wanna make one of those guys angry."

"Mewtwo is the most powerful psychic on our home planet." Belle added. "That may have a poor idea."

Applejack shrugged. "Ah didn't mean anything by it, an' 'sides, if'n that hurt his feelin's he has somethin' of an ego on him."

Gene sighed and got up from the table. "Well I think I'm gonna-"

"Actually dear I'd like to have a word with you about something Pinkie said." Rarity interrupted.

Gene had a pretty good idea what it was and sat back down next to Belle.

"Now when Pinkie Pie was going on about her parties-"

"Yeah about that," Misty jumped onto the table and sat down in the center. "I know that Twilight said we shouldn't ask, but does she, I mean is she, was that... she exploded."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Pinkie Pie's kinda obsessed with parties, I'm actually surprised she didn't go off like that sooner."

"Speaking of going off," Discord snapped his fingers and appeared in the doorway wearing an orange construction vest, a hard hat, and a utility belt. "I'm going to go find Pinkie and help her," He smiled. "I do believe that this could quickly become the biggest party ever! Ta, ta Fluttershy!" He disappeared in a flash of light.

"Oh, uh..." Fluttershy bit her lip. "This could be bad."

"Anyway," Rarity continued. "Pinkie Pie said she was going to throw you an engagement party, I thought you two were married."

Gene looked away. "We're mates," He explained. "But we're not actually married yet."

Belle continued. "Not all Pokémon have a specific ceremony that's necessary, although after they become mates most Psychic-Type's go through a bonding ceremony but,"

"But both partners have to be Pokémon for it to work." Gene finished. "And we couldn't have a normal wedding, you know, vows, legally binding, big show of love that ends in a kiss, because as I said, Belle and my relationship was considered illegal."

"Ahh," Rarity pursed her lips. "Right, sorry."

He sighed. "Don't apologize, besides, even if we did have a wedding," He clenched his fist.

"Gene..." Belle placed a hand on her mates shoulder, then turned to the ponies. "We did try to plan a wedding once but we had some complications when we tried to invite others."

"Ohhh," Juniper said, realizing what they were talking about. "I remember, Cynthia was going to officiate."

Korrina and Misty's eyes went wide. "You don't mean the champion Cynthia from Sinnoh, right?" The Cerulean gym leader asked in disbelief.

Belle nodded. "We met her in Undella Town, she was one of the ones who _didn't_ find our love disgusting." She glared at the gym leaders. "But when we tried to invite... someone, the entire thing went downhill, and the police showed up."

"Well who'd ya try ta invite?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, who?" Korrina agreed, smirking.

"My mom." Gene answered, glaring at the Lucario. "My mom called the police on me, got me on every police watch list in Unova and Hoenn, and got me on the Pokémon Rangers wanted list for Poképhilia and Pokémon abuse."

Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike stared in disbelief. Misty held one paw over her mouth and Korrina's mouth hung open. Lucario just looked awkwardly in the opposite direction and Juniper and Fang tried to soothe their friend.

"My word," Rarity said, recovering from her shock. "You mean, your mother actually, my word."

"I, I didn't think," Korrina realized she had crossed a line there. "I shouldn't have said that, I didn't think, I mean your mom..."

Gene got up from the table. "Just forget it, I don't wanna think about it... or her." Gene stormed out of the room.

"Where's he going?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"Probably to find the gym," Belle answered. "Whenever he gets mad he goes somewhere he can take it out."

The Gardevoir got up from the table. "Fang, Juniper would you-?"

"You don't even have to ask. " Juniper said with a nod.

Fang whimpered and ran out the door ahead of the Psychic-Types. Belle stopped before she left and turned back. "If anything happens, tell the guards where to find us."

Once Belle and Juniper had left the door Korrina turned back to the ponies, all of whom were staring at her disapprovingly. "I didn't mean to... I didn't know that,"

Rarity stopped her. "Look darling, I understand that you're upset about being turned into a Pokémon,"

"And I'm sure the Princess isn't gonna let Arceus leave you like this." Dash added.

"And we'll help in any way we can." Applejack agreed.

"But you simply can't keep acting like that to Gene and Belle, I know it seems unnatural to you but you must understand, most ponies don't put that much weight on race, at least not once they get to know them."

Korrina wanted to bring up that Applejack had acted like a jerk when they first met but didn't, she just hung her head. "I can't believe, his mom." Family was very important to Korrina.

Meanwhile, several floors above on a balcony overlooking the city Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight Sparkle stood, watching as the citizens of Canterlot ran around in a frenzy.

"Here we go." Luna sighed.

Celestia took a deep breath and prepared herself, she channeled the royal Canterlot voice and began.

"_ATTENTION CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT!"_ A familiar voice rang throughout the city, cutting off the princess before she began.

Arceus appeared over the city.

"_I am Lord Arceus."_ The ponies below began to panic again, even more than they had been.

Arceus cleared his throat, attempting to draw their attention. _"As you know, I have recently brought the citizens of my world, the Pokémon, here, so that they could live in peace."_ Now a large group of ponies were gathering and staring up at the strange being, several were pointing and shouting things like "monster" and, for the ones who saw the princesses as religious figures "blasphemy."

"_Now I realize that this has been somewhat of an inconvenience, and I would like to thank the princesses for putting up with me."_ He turned to the balcony on which the princesses stood. _"And as such, I would like to present them with a gift, a show of goodwill if you would."_

Celestia's eyes went wide. "Please don't let it be something Pokémon related. No statues, no guards, no-"

"_I present to you, the Eternal Sundial."_ Arceus referred to the crystal structure by the name Diancie had given it when she made it several millennia ago. The enormous pink and gold crystal structure appeared over the city, causing everyone below to gasp.

"_You are welcome to return it if you wish but for now,"_ The sundial disappeared in a flash and reappeared in a field behind the hedge maze. He turned to Princesses again and bowed his head. _"Thank you once again, princesses and if you have further need of me, you know where I can be found."_

Arceus flashed gold and vanished, leaving behind a stunned city and three princesses gaping at the city's newest monument.

"That is... quite an impressive gift." Luna honestly couldn't think of anything that had been given to Equestria that she could compare to the several story tall pink crystal statue.

Celestia sighed, but then noticed that most of Canterlot, or at least a large portion of the nobles, had lost interest in panicking and were now admiring the Eternal Sundial, which could be seen quite clearly from halfway across the city.

"Huh," She said, slightly impressed. "He actually did the right thing this time."

Twilight was eyeing the sundial as well, but for a different reason, she could sense some kind of magic coming from the sundial, but not a form she was used to. And Twilight could differentiate between ambient magic, normal magic, dark magic and even chaos magic, but what came from the sundial was completely different.

"New magic." She whispered under her breath. She wasn't sure of any particulars yet, it was too far off, but she was sure it was something she had either never encountered before, or had only come in contact with_very_ recently.

_Oh my gosh! The Pokémon must have their own specific type of magical energy probably tied into the forces of nature like Juniper was talking about! Maybe if I can study it I can figure out how to control it, and-"_

"Twilight?" Celestia waved a hoof in front of her students face. "Did you hear me?"

"Hmm? Oh, uh, sorry Princess, I was just thinking, what did you say?"

Celestia smiled. _Same old Twilight._ "I said, I want you to find your friends, tell them that we won't be meeting again today and that dinner will be at seven, that is, if you wish to stay for the night."

Twilight nodded. "It's getting pretty late, we'll probably head back to Ponyville tomorrow." Twilight noticed the guilty look on Celestia's face as she said that. "Unless there's something else you needed?"

Celestia pursed her lip. "We'll talk about it at dinner."

Twilight just nodded, whenever Celestia delayed something, she usually had a good reason for it, Twilight excused herself and went to find her friends. Leaving Luna and Celestia alone on the balcony, the sisters suddenly vanished in a burst of gold and reappeared in Celestia's bedroom.

"Luna," Celestia began, turning to her sister. "What did those damage reports say?"

* * *

_Wham_

_Wham_

_Bam_

Gene stood in front of one of the punching bags in the castle gym, which was more a training area for the guards, letting his anger out.

"Stupid little-"

_Bam_

"Said I was just a-"

_Bam_

"Didn't even care that I love her!"

_Slice!_

Half of the punching bag fell to the ground, the entire thing spilling sand across the surrounding area. Gene looked down and saw that he had gone from hitting the equipment to using his arm blades to chop it. He sheepishly looked over to a group of trainees who had been in the gym when he had arrived, all of whom were gaping at him, knees shaking slightly.

"Sorry." He said as he moved away from the ruined bag.

Gene took a seat on a nearby bench and just sat for a moment. "Why does this still bother me so much?" He asked aloud. "I don't care about her anymore, she made her choice when she..." Gene felt his anger begin to boil again. But before he could mutilate another punching bag he felt a familiar presence enter his mind.

"Gene?" The former trainer whirled around to see Belle, Fang and Juniper watching him. "Are you alright?" Belle could sense her mate's distress, but found that talking through it was more helpful.

Likewise Gene could sense Belle's worry, he hated when he made her worry. Immediately he put on a fake smile and answered. "Don't worry, I just needed some time alone is all."

Belle just sighed and walked over to her mate. "You know I can tell when you're lying, so why do you even try?"

Gene's smiled dropped and the Gallade fell back onto the bench. "Sorry, I just don't feel like talking about her."

Belle sat down next to him, Fang curled up by his feet, and Juniper floated at his side. "I know sweetie but... you've been putting this off since the wedding. Don't you think it's time to talk about it?"

"Keeping your feeling locked up inside isn't good for your health." Juniper added, she wasn't just a Pokémon professor, she had a PhD. in Pokémon psychology, she wasn't sure if it applied to the current situation but was willing to try to help her friend.

Gene sighed again, then turned to Belle. "You're not gonna let it go this time, are you?"

Belle smiled slightly. "Seeing as how you're no longer human I don't see a reason why I should." She felt his reluctance and added. "Please? For me?"

Gene shook his head and said nothing for a moment, then answered. "Fine, for you."

Belle smiled at her little victory, then nodded to Professor Juniper. "Alright Gene," The Beheeyem began. "Let's start from the beginning, you invited your mother to your and Belle's wedding, then what happened?"

Juniper knew what had happened, she had been in Undella Town visiting when the Ranger Union had shown up.

"Belle teleported us out before the Rangers got to us," He answered. "Then it took a few days to get to Sinnoh, and after that things kinda went back to normal as long as I stayed out of Unova, Hoenn, and away from the Ranger Union."

Juniper nodded. "And did you ever try to contact your mother? Or tell her how you felt?"

Gene shook his head. "She made her position clear enough."

"Do you think you should've tried to talk with her? Maybe get some closure?" Juniper had never actually done a therapy session before, at least not one where the patient talked back.

"... Maybe," Gene consented. "But it's not like I could just call her. 'Hey mom just wanted to call you and ask why you ruined my wedding and made me an international criminal... Oh, because I fell in love? Well... what are you expecting me to say? Sorry?! I love Belle, I love her with all my heart, and I'm not gonna let some stupid rules stand in the way!'" Juniper was going to stop him, but he was on a roll. "'I honestly thought you would understand, that you would still accept me, for cryin' out loud! People from Unova who never even met me before gave me a chance!'" Tears were building in Gene's eyes, as well as Belle's. "'Y-you always told me to follow my heart, well, it led me straight to her, and if you can't accept that, then, then...'"

At that point something clicked inside of Gene's mind, something that had been hidden there for years. And since Gene was now a Psychic-Type it took the quickest route out.

"'_Then you don't deserve to be part of my, part of our life!'"_ The mental shout echoed through the minds of every nearby being, fortunately the guards had left before the impromptu therapy session began. _"'I don't want you, I don't need you, so... goodbye mom.'"_

Gene was panting heavily by the time he finished.

"Well," Juniper started, rubbing the back of her head. "I think we've made some good progress for the day."

Belle put a hand on her mate's shoulder, he turned to her and smiled, then pulled her into a kiss.

"_I promise,"_ He told her. _"After everything calms down a little, we're going to have our wedding."_Gene had proposed earlier, but he wanted to say it again.

Belle didn't mind in the least. She just kissed Gene harder.

"Awww." Gene and Belle broke the kiss to see that Pinkie Pie was standing in the doorway, again. "Oh, sorry." She apologized. "I would've knocked but you know," She gestured around the room. "No door."

Gene laughed. "It's fine Pinkie, but what did you want?"

Pinkie Pie smiled and pulled a clipboard from her mane. "Umm," She flipped a few pages. "What type of cake do you want at your wedding?" She asked with a smile.

"...Wait, what?" They asked together.

Pinkie giggled. "I know it seems kinda random but if I start with the supplies for the onetime events that I have to cater for now, I can make a calendar for birthdays and make sure I have enough ingredients for everything..." She tapped her chin with a pen. "Oh, I'm also gonna need your birthdays."

"Umm, January thirty-first." Juniper answered wearily.

"May second." Gene added.

"I hatched on the seventeenth of July." Belle answered.

"The twelfth day of the sixth month." Fang finished.

Pinkie scribbled the dates down in her notes. "And the cake?" She asked excitedly.

Gene and Belle shared a quick mental conversation, they settled on what they had planned for their first wedding. "Vanilla cake with Oran Berry filling." Belle answered.

Pinkie wrote that down and began to exit the room. "Thanks you guys! And call me when you have a date for-" Pinkie skidded to a stop, literally, then turned one hundred and eighty degrees back towards the Pokémon. "What's an Oran Berry?"

The group looked at each other. "A type of berry native to the Pokémon world." Gene facepalmed. He shared a quick revision with Belle, who nodded. "Do you have strawberries?"

Pinkie's eyes went wide and she waved her hooves in the air. "Oh no, Super Party Pony Pinkie Pie does_not_ compromise for the sake of convenience!" She shouted. "I promise I'm going to find you some Oran Berries and make you the best cake you've ever had!"

Pinkie was standing right in front of the couple now, and they noticed that despite her smaller size she was rather intimidating when serious.

"And _that_ is a Pinkie Promise." Pinkie crossed her heart, flapped her arms, and stuck a cupcake that she pulled from her mane into her eye. Zap stuck his head out of her mane as he watched the cupcake leave; it hadn't been there a moment ago.

"Alright Pinkie." Gene said, taking a step back. "Just ahh, don't stress yourself out?"

"Okie dokey lokey." She said with a smile. Pinkie trotted back towards the exit, checking her clipboard. "Next up, Mewtwo's welcome to Equus party."

Hearing that, the group froze, the four Pokémon looked at each other, then back at the door, then-

"Pinkie!"

* * *

Rainbow Dash sat in the dining hall, taping her hoof on the table impatiently. "Where are they?" She asked aloud. "I'm starving."

"Now Dash," Twilight began. "You know it would be rude to begin without our guests." She looked around the table, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Korrina, Lucario and Misty were already there and Misty had Togepi at her side, while Fluttershy had Cubone at hers. Spike was trying to find Pinkie Pie and they were still waiting on the Princesses, Gene, Belle, Juniper, and Fang... and Discord if he felt like it.

Soon Gene ran into the room, panting, Belle, Juniper and Fang entered after him. "Have any of you seen Pinkie Pie?"

"No," Twilight answered. "We've been waiting for her to show up, and you too actually." Twilight surveyed the Pokémon. "What happened?"

Belle shook her head. "Suffice to say that Pinkie seems to be trying to plan our wedding, as well as every other celebration for the next several years."

Rarity gasped. "So you two _are_ having a wedding!" The fashionista's smile grew even wider. "Oh that is so romantic, a forbidden love, finally allowed to blossom, and I can make the dresses!" She examined Belle for a moment. "Hmm, a dress over a dress... no matter, I'll make it work!" She said with finality.

"_Belle?"_ Gene asked his mate telepathically after a moment.

"_Yes?"_

"_Is this actually happening?"_

"_You mean the ponies offering to help with our wedding? I think so."_

Gene nodded. _"Alright, just wanted to make sure I wasn't hallucinating."_

Gene and Belle sat across from Rarity, and Fang hopped into one of the chairs next to them. Juniper went and sat by Twilight.

"So," The Gallade began. "Who are we waiting for now? Besides the Princesses I mean, cause I'm pretty sure Pinkie Pie's not coming."

The Canterlot Grand Ballroom

"And we'll have the dessert table over here, and we'll need to talk to the chefs cause I think some of the Pokémon eat meat, and I can't cook meat."

Discord drew pictures and figures on a large sheet of blueprints while Pinkie rushed around the room and shouted out random plans.

"Are you sure this will translate right?" He asked.

"Of course!" Pinkie replied, measuring the stage. "This is exactly the right size, we'll just have to clean the location out an eensy, weensy bit when it's time."

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna entered the dining hall to find that almost everyone had arrived. "Where are Pinkie Pie and Discord? "Luna asked, although her tone implied she didn't want to know.

Twilight sighed. "You're guess would be better than mine."

Celestia stepped forward. "No matter, they are not entirely necessary for the next part."

Korrina gulped. "What next part?"

Celestia sighed. "I realize that each of you had gone through quite a lot in the past few days, and that is why it almost pains me to ask for your help once again."

Celestia levitated a map from behind her back and unrolled it on the table. "You see, over the past two days, emergencies have arisen in all corners of Equestria and beyond." Celestia cast a spell and the map became a three dimensional image. "From Appleoosa to Trottingham, and everywhere in between." Several locations on the map glowed bright gold.

"Let me guess, Pokémon?" Misty ventured.

Celestia nodded. "Most likely, and I do not believe that the royal guard would be the best choice to deal with these... incidents."

"So you want us to kick some- I mean - see if we can figure out what's wrong?" Rainbow asked.

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, that's exactly it, but I will completely understand if you would rather return to Ponyville."

For a moment no one spoke, then surprisingly, Applejack did. "We'll seein' as how I got kin in Appleoosa, and ah haven't seen 'em in a while, I suppose it wouldn't hurt none ta stop by and see what's causin' a problem."

Celestia smiled. "Thank you Applejack, and as for the problem it appears that some kind of Dragon is causing a huge sandstorm over the applefields and surrounding area, although rarely in the town itself."

"The Buffalo are calling it 'The Desert Spirit.'" Gene's eyes widened.

"I know that one!" He shouted. "The Desert Spirit, that's what Hoenn natives call Flygon sometimes."

"Is that so? Interesting." Luna noted. "Do you know how to deal with one?"

Gene smiled. "I had a Flygon on my team, so I'm pretty familiar with them." _And maybe it'll be my Flygon._ He hoped, he turned to Belle. "What do you think?"

She smiled at him. "It's a chance to find Draco, let's go for it."

Gene turned to the Princess. "We're in."

Celestia smiled, then turned back to the map. "Now then, Cloudsdale-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, something up in Cloudsdale? Why didn't you say so, I'll head there now and-"

"Rainbow Dash, please wait a moment." Celestia interrupted the Pegasus as she flew for the nearest window. "As I was saying, Cloudsdale has been having problems in the lightning factory, something's been draining the power, and while I agree that you have the 'home court advantage' as it were, the factory contains very delicate, advanced, and dangerous machinery. Which is why I'll be sending Bio Chem along with you when you head to Cloudsdale tomorrow."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Some egghead professor from Twilight's old school?" She complained. "And isn't he, I don't know, a biology teacher or something?"

"He's a geneticist by trade but is an exceptionally talented engineer," Luna explained. "Besides, it is good for him to get out of his lab every once in a while."

Rainbow groaned again but didn't object.

Celestia turned to her former student. "Twilight, I would like you and Spike to go to Trottingham and speak with some Pokémon who defended the town for the attack of another the other day."

"Of course Princess." She answered dutifully.

"Mind if I tag along?" Juniper asked. "I'd rather not just float around the castle feeling useless."

Twilight smiled, the last time she had met someone on the same intellectual level as herself was back when she first met Bio Chem, so talking with Professor Juniper was becoming a real delight. "It's no problem at all."

Celestia looked over the map again, Manehattan's problems were disappearing, the creatures such as the steel birds, sea serpents, and various others were apparently fleeing the highly populated area, and the Crystal Empire had Cadence and Shining.

"Fluttershy, I would like you to return to Ponyville and keep the native Pokémon calm, we don't want the locals to form some kind of mob." Fluttershy nodded, happy to be heading home.

Celestia grinned at her next problem. "Rarity, as I'm sure you're aware, Arceus gave the city of Canterlot a gift earlier today in the form of a several stories tall crystal sundial."

Rarity nodded as she thought about the magnificent statue.

"I would like you to study it, just a preliminary to figure out what it is exactly."

"M-m-me?" Rarity sputtered. 'But I don't know the first thing about..." She was going to say crystals, but her Cutie Mark would have betrayed that.

Celestia smiled. "Twilight told me you developed several spells to tell the composition of a gem, as well as its magic levels, that's all I want you to do."

Rarity didn't answer for a moment, then smiled. "I'll do my best."

Celestia nodded. Then turned to Misty, Korrina, and Lucario. "You three may stay here in Canterlot if you wish, or return to Ponyville, or I could have a chariot take you wherever you wish to go." Celestia still felt bad for Misty and Korrina, and she had her guards, armed with translation spells, combing the city to find any more former humans.

"I think I'll just head back to Ponyville for now." Misty answered.

"Same here." Korrina agreed.

Everyone waited for Lucario to answer, when he didn't they all turned to him. He raised an eyebrow and said. "I will not leave Korrina." As if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Despite herself, Rarity cooed at his comment, causing Korrina and Lucario to blush and look away from each other.

Celestia chuckled softly. "Well, with that settled." She clapped her hooves and servants entered bearing plates piled high with fruits, vegetables, flowers, and, specifically ordered for Fang and possibly the two present Lucario, meat, along with fish in case Misty needed it. "Dinner is served."

* * *

Dinner went off without a hitch and after about an hour everyone went to bed, or at least to their bedrooms, except for Celestia, she was once again heading down a hallway in her school for gifted Unicorns.

Bio Chem, meanwhile was finicking with some computer simulations on the device Blueblood had brought him. After the explosion the prince was taken to the infirmary and Bio Chem was left with his usual berating from Arcane Glyph, the current head mistress.

The simulations were, fortunately, all failing miserably. "I don't get it," He said to himself, no matter the strength of the laser, the power I pump into it, the wave length, or the organism I simulate, it just keeps exploding!"

Bio Chem couldn't even discern what the device did yet, he theorized either a genetically keyed vaporizer ray or a genetic recording device but couldn't be sure, and the technology it used was ahead of even him. "Doesn't help that it was busted when Blue brought it in." He mumbled.

That was when Princess Celestia came in. "Bio Chem?" She called.

The stallion turned to the Alicorn. "Princess, so good to see you... is this about the explosion or the Pokémon?"

"A little about the ... wait, so that _was_ you!"

Bio Chem's eyes widened. "Never mind that, you were saying?"

Celestia glared at him but continued. "I have a mission for you," She explained. "Tomorrow morning I'm sending you to Cloudsdale to help with some complications at the lightning factory."

Bio Chem frowned. "You know I'm not a mechanic, can't you get someone with a lower IQ to fix some machines?"

Celestia continued to glare. "It _may_ have something to do with the Pokémon, but if you don't-"

"I'll do it!" He cried.

Celestia smiled. "Good, you and Rainbow Dash leave tomorrow morning," She began to leave before he could complain about being paired with somepony else, but stopped when she remembered something. "Bio Chem, where is the Pokémon I left with you?"

Bio Chem sighed and turned to a machine. "It's gone Princess."

Celestia froze. "What?"

Bio Chem turned back to her. "It's gone, as in, no longer here, at all, gone."

Celestia gritted her teeth. "You, you, how could you?" Her anger began to bubble. "I knew you were a bit extreme at times but this? I didn't think you could-"

At that point Bio Chem realized what was about to happen. "Wait, no, no, no, no, no, I didn't kill it! It escaped."

Celestia's anger vanished. "Escaped?"

Bio Chem rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, it ate through the trash can and pushed the door open."

"... The door was unlocked?"

Bio Chem nodded and waited for the Princess to respond. It took a moment. "I don't know what worries me more, the fact that you lost a creature that can eat anything in a building full of foals, or the fact that you leave the door to a room full of dangerous machines unlocked in a building full of foals."

* * *

Princess Celestia rubbed her temple in irritation as she walked past Aegislash and into her bedroom. The sword had been patrolling the castle under her orders all day, it at least kept it away from her most of the time.

She had left Bio Chem with _very_ specific instructions to find the Trubbish, then release it outside, preferably near a dumpster.

Once Celestia entered her room she felt something warm and fuzzy brush up against her leg and looked down to see Ninetales nuzzling her. "Hi Celestia!" The fire fox chirped happily. "How have you been?"

The Princess couldn't help but smile, Philomena, whom she had explained the situation to earlier and was now in her nest in the Canterlot gardens, was a good listener. But having something fuzzy to snuggle with was nice too.

"It was... slightly stressful but otherwise alright." She answered as she climbed into bed. Celestia had already called for a meeting with the other racial leaders after Arceus' announcement so she could, thankfully, get right to sleep. Ninetales hopped in after her and curled up at her side, the solar Alicorn was surprised at just how warm the Fox Pokémon was, until she recalled that she was a Fire-Type.

"Goodnight Ninetales." She said with a yawn.

"Goodnight Celestia." Ninetales replied

Meanwhile across the hall Princess Luna was preparing for bed as well, just not for sleep.

Luna's horn glowed midnight blue as she cast the lasts spell from an ancient tome, one which Twilight had gotten from the castle in the Everfree.

"Finished." She sighed. "Temporary immunity to nightmare magic whilst within the Dreamscape," She looked back down at the book. "I pray that this holds."

Luna climbed into bed, her Swablu fluttering to the little perch that now sat by her bed side. "Wish me luck little one." Luna said as she cast her dream walking spell. "Darkness, here I come."


	18. Chapter 16

The dreamscape was calm, calmer than it had been the night before. "I suppose Arceus' plan does have its merits." Luna commented as she pulled herself together in the dream world.

Many ponies, and Pokémon, were still having nightmares, but it was significantly less than it had been when the entire situation had been a mystery.

"Now to business." Luna took off towards the Everfree, observing the various dreams as she went. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared, apart from some Pokémon dreams beyond her understanding, and soon she reached her destination.

The Hall of Legends. And the dark void. Luna lit her horn with a spell designed to break even the darkest of nightmares.

Meanwhile Darkrai was temporarily unaware of what was occurring just above the material plane, and was trying to concentrate on something else entirely. Darkrai floated outside of Cresselia's room, trying to work up the courage to knock. Cresselia had been inside since yesterday after he left her, and he felt incredibly guilty for it.

"_It's nothing romantic,"_ He tried to assure himself. _"I'm just going to apologize and... but if she's been crying then I'm going to... Gahh!"_

A pulse of darkness traveled outward from Darkrai, doing next to nothing in the real world but washing over Princess Luna in the dreamscape, startling her but leaving her otherwise unscratched.

Darkrai settled on the ground. _"I'm pathetic."_ He stated. _"I can't even think talking with Cresselia without losing my nerve anymore."_ Then Darkrai thought back to what Meloetta had said yesterday. _"She's right, I have no reason to worry, I'm Darkrai, lord of nightmares and the embodiment of the new moon, and Cresselia... my beautiful lunar princess."_ Darkrai clenched a fist over his heart. _"I have to do this."_

Darkrai floated over to the door and readied himself. He went to knock, then Luna's spell blasted forth and Darkrai felt a searing pain in his arm.

"_GAAAHHHH!"_

The Dark-Type reeled back in pain, and in fear as he sensed where the attack had come from. _"It's back."_

Now that he was sensing the dreamscape Darkrai could tell that the being was preparing another attack._"... No."_

A swirling portal of darkness opened beneath Darkrai and he sank into it. Then he came out, in the dreamscape, directly behind a midnight blue Alicorn. Luna tensed as she sensed Darkrai's presence. The lunar Princess whirled around and fired another spell to disperse nightmares. Darkrai dodged and stared at Luna.

"_Greetings Princess Luna."_ He greeted. _"I am Darkrai."_

Luna glared at the legendary. "What art thou? Some abomination, escaped from whatever prison Arceus had you trapped in?" Luna was not taking any chances, the last time she let nightmare magic near her... she didn't want to think about that.

Darkrai chuckled. _"No Princess, I am a member of the legendary council, and a patron of Dark-Type Pokémon."_

Luna froze. "You are... how can thou claim that? Your very being reeks of nightmare and..." Luna lost her train of thought as she sensed Darkrai's nightmare powers taking hold of the dreamscape. Spreading farther than they could in the material world and twisting the dreams of Pokémon and ponies alike. As long as Darkrai stayed out of any one specific dream no adverse consequences would befall the sleepers but Luna didn't know that.

"You pervert the dreams of the innocent!" Luna screamed at him. "If a being like you can exist under Arceus then perhaps we were wrong about him."

Darkrai sighed. _"My powers are neither my, nor my Lord Arceus' choice, they are simply there, I do not control them."_

Luna had a hard time believing Darkrai, and for good reason. His form reminded her of Nightmare Moon, black skin and a flowing mane, cat like eyes and the sheer amount of nightmare energy.

And yet she was still going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Until she sensed one of the nightmares he had caused in a young filly that Luna was rather fond of.

"Scootaloo."

Scootaloo dreamt that she was being abandoned by her friends, family, and worst of all, Rainbow Dash, when she saw just how cruel the nightmare was, how Scootaloo was treated, Luna blasted it to oblivion. Waking Scootaloo up but saving her much pain.

Luna turned to Darkrai. "I am Princess of dreams, as such I cannot allow a creature who opposes all that I stand for to bring suffering to my subjects, turn yourself in now and you will not suffer."

Darkrai shook his head. _"Do not do this Princess, I have no control over my powers, I wish them gone, I wish that I could control them, but I can not. I'm sorry."_

"I know," A tear slid down Luna's face. "But I do this for my ponies... I'm sorry."

Luna blasted another spell at Darkrai, he slipped into a portal and evaded it, coming out behind the Princess he tried to incapacitate her. _"Shadow Ball."_

Luna heard him behind her and jumped to the left, narrowly avoiding an orb of darkness. "Just stop this!" She shouted, firing a spell to make Darkrai sleep.

"_Ominous Wind."_ Darkrai deflected the spell and hit Luna with the attack. Causing Luna to reel back in disgust and pain.

She fired another spell, this one taking Darkrai by surprise and hitting him in the shoulder. "Gaah!" Darkrai's black flesh sizzled.

Luna fired another spell as she took a step forward, Darkrai sank into the ground.

Luna looked around aimlessly for him until she heard his voice. _"I cannot allow you to dispel me Princess Luna, just as I will not kill you... but this must end, so with regret I say... Dark Void."_

Luna felt herself sinking into the ground, as well as falling asleep, real sleep, not the state she went into where she could access the dreamscape. _"I apologize for what I'm about to do... but I will not be destroyed."_

Luna sensed Darkrai fading from the dreamscape, and materializing in... her room. Luna's eyes went wide but she continued to fall asleep. She made a last ditch attempt to stop Darkrai by casting a reversal spell but her altered state of mind ruined it... or so she thought.

Darkrai floated through a dark portal and into the bedroom of Princess Luna, had he not traced her energy back here from the dreamscape he wouldn't have been able to enter the castle through his powers but by following Luna's path he had circumnavigated the wards.

Darkrai floated over to Luna and stared down at the sleeping Princess, a look of determination on her face. _"I'm truly sorry."_ He placed a dark hand on her forehead, and let his nightmares flow.

Luna's horn suddenly lit up and blasted Darkrai, but not with a dispersal spell, with a mimicry spell. Darkrai only had one thing to say as he blacked out. _"Clever Princess."_

* * *

Darkrai opened his eyes, he was in some kind of hallway. Before him were a set of obsidian doors with a crescent moon on them. _"What's going on?"_ He wondered to himself.

Suddenly he found himself on the other side of the doors. Watching a scene play out before his eyes.

"So Celestia," A pitch black Alicorn stood in front of a dark throne, standing in front of a group of eight. "You failed, the elements failed, even Discord failed." Nightmare Moon smirked as she beheld the only beings on the planet who could have stopped her, in chains. Inside, however was a different story.

Princess Luna screamed as she watched the scene play out from the position of Nightmare Moon, her lips moving beyond her control.

"My victory is assured, and the night, will last, FOREVER!" Luna felt heard her laughing, herself laughing.

_"NO, NO, NO, NO!"_

Nightmare walked forward and tilted Celestia's head up, the alabaster Alicorn was bruised and scraped. "And I am left with the problem of what to do with all of you." She sighed and let Celestia's head fall.

"Do what you want to me Nightmare," Celestia spat. "But let the others go, they don't deserve to suffer."

"Oh but they do!" Nightmare interrupted.

"_This is Luna's worst nightmare."_ Darkrai realized, finding himself unable to move.

"But _how_ is the question." Nightmare walked to the end of the line where a bruised and bloody Discord, wrapped in chains and no less than five power inhibitors kneeled. "Are you certain you will not join me Discord? You are chaos, you had no place amongst these ponies in the first place."

"Go suck a moon rock." Discord muttered.

Nightmare frowned and smacked Discord, knocking him to the ground.

"Discord!" Fluttershy cried, trying futilely to reach her friend.

"Silence Nag!" Fluttershy fell silent. Nightmare approached Discord again. "In that case, I already have your punishment. Only an immortal would be able to go through this, and only Celestia would be able to do it without going insane."

Celestia's eyes widened. "No." She whispered.

"Discord, grand lord of chaos, last of the Draconequus," She grinned evilly. "I banish thee to the sun."

Before anyone could react Nightmare had cast the spell and Discord was gone.

Inside Nightmare's mind, Luna screamed. _"AHHHHHHH!"_ But Nightmare wasn't done.

"Now for the elements."

"Leave my friends alone Nightmare." Twilight said, looking up. "Just give me their punishments and let them go."

"Hmmm, interesting offer but... no!" Nightmare walked over to Rarity.

"I think that you and Sombra will get along quite nicely my dear," Rarity's legs began to shake. "After a few, cosmetic changes, that is."

"_Enough!"_ Darkrai wouldn't stand by and watch the ponies be tortured, he focused all his powers and used Dream Eater, the landscape, Nightmare Moon included, began to fall away as the dark Alicorn transmuted Rarity into living crystal. Her screams were the last thing Luna and Darkrai heard as the world shattered.

* * *

Luna stood frozen in place, as still as Discord after a shower in the elements. "Where am I?" She wondered, surveying her surroundings and seeing she was in a grassy field, but something was wrong, the sky was grey and the grass was almost black. And in the center of the clearing was the only light source in the area, and a being Luna recognized. "Darkrai?"

Luna suddenly found herself in front of Darkrai, and saw he was not the light source, the dim, pinkish glow instead resonated from a creature which Darkrai held in his arms, its body was only comparable to that of a swan's and that came nowhere close to doing the creature justice. It had a golden crest surrounding its head and, most striking, three pink 'wings' that appeared to be made of moonlight.

"_Cresselia."_ Darkrai whimpered, clutching the broken body, blood dripping from several large gashes on her body, including one across her forehead. _"I, I failed. I couldn't control it."_ Tears of liquid shadow fell from Darkrai's eyes and onto the blackening grass. _"I failed her, sh-she tried to help me and... and,"_ Sobs wracked the Dark-Type's body, causing Luna to tear up at the very sound of his despair. _"It's all my fault!"_ He screamed between sobs. _"I should've stayed away, I should've listened to them... I... I didn't deserve you... I'm a monster, I didn't deserve you."_

Luna tried to look away but she was still frozen.

"_I'm sorry... my love, I failed you,"_ The landscape began to fade, the darkness slowly swallowing everything, Cresselia's body dissolving into dust.

"_I'm sorry."_ Darkrai whispered a final time before the world disappeared. _"I'm sorry."_

* * *

Luna and Darkrai jolted awake.

"NOO!"

"_CRESSELIA!"_

The room was dead silent for a moment, the Princess and the Pokémon staring at each other, then Darkrai spoke. _"I guess you and I aren't so different after all."_

Luna hung her head, partially in shame, partially in shock. "You, you have a... you are not a monster." She stated. "You're just-"

"_Misunderstood?"_ Darkrai knew Luna would understand what he meant.

Luna hung her head in shame. "I'm... sorry I attacked you, I was-"

Darkrai held up a hand to stop her. _"You had your subjects' best interest at heart."_ He shifted nervously. _"I should apologize as well, striking back with a nightmare was not a very wise idea."_

Luna nodded. "What happened there? I saw your nightmare and I assume you saw mine."

Darkrai thought for a moment. _"The spell you cast, before you passed out, it must have done something with my nightmare powers, and your dream viewing."_

Luna nodded, then spoke. "I believe that it would be fitting to say, let us never speak of this again."

Darkrai chuckled. _"As you wish Princess."_ Darkrai made to leave the room but Luna stopped him.

"Darkrai, wait," Luna got out of bed and trotted over to the Pokémon. "I am the most powerful being on the planet when it comes to controlling dream magic, if there is anyone who can help you control your powers, it is me."

"_No one can help me."_ Darkrai said, turning away.

Luna hung her head. "Just let me try," Luna got an idea. "For you and this... I believe her name is Cresselia? Yes I remember, I met her yesterday, she was excited about meeting you for a date."

Darkrai didn't move, didn't speak, didn't even breathe. _"Fine,"_ Darkrai consented. _"For her."_

Luna smiled. "Perfect, we begin now."

Darkrai looked startled. _"Now? But-"_

"No buts, we start now." Luna had long considered getting her own pupil, much like Celestia had with Twilight, she guessed tutoring a nightmare creature would work as well. "Oh, and remind me next time my niece Cadence is in town to introduce you two," Luna smiled. "I believe she could help with your romance problem."

* * *

Breakfast the next morning was... eventful, the cook's supply of bacon had mysteriously gone missing over the night and this had led to a freak out in the kitchen until Gene had come in and informed them that the Houndoom could eat berries, and even apples.

Another problem was that no one could find Pinkie Pie or Discord, that had led to a lot of worry until they found a note from Pinkie saying that she, Zap, Discord, and Entropy had caught the first train back to Ponyville, that had raised several questions, not the least of which was who Entropy was.

After breakfast Celestia cast a spell on the entire group, a special translation spell that lasted for three days. It had taken some time to get it right and she had never used it before but until she found a more permanent solution it would have to do.

Soon the separate groups parted ways, Fluttershy, Korrina, Lucario and Misty heading to the train station to catch the next train back to Ponyville.

The train bound for Trottingham was scheduled to leave around ten and the Appleloosan train about a half hour after that. Which left plenty of time for Twilight to show Juniper, Gene and Belle around Canterlot.

Spike decided to head over to Twilight's parents' house and visit with Nightlight and Velvet and Applejack thought it'd be nice to meet Twilight, and Spike's, family.

This left Rainbow Dash waiting on the castle's landing platform, impatiently tapping her hoof. Princess Celestia had told her that Bio Chem would be along shortly, that was about an hour ago.

"Uggg," She moaned. "What's taking this guy so long?"

The Royal Guards designated to pull the chariot that would take the pair to Cloudsdale shrugged.

Rainbow Dash sat down and crossed her arms. "Seriously, I'd be there and back by now if I didn't have to wait for this guy."

"Well I'm sorry Miss Dash." Bio Chem, sporting a pair of brown saddle bags the same tone as his coat, called as he exited the castle, pulling what looked like a giant battery behind him. "But not all of us were born with wings."

Dash glared at him. "I'm not saying you're slow 'cause you're an Earth Pony, I'm just saying you're late."

Bio Chem huffed. "I'm pulling an electromagnetic field stabilizer behind me, it's heavy."

Dash just grumbled. As Bio Chem reached the chariot he was faced with the issue of getting the machine up the steps. Watching him struggle futilely with the device, Rainbow sighed.

"Here," She grabbed the machine, grunting. "Let me help."

Bio Chem took a few steps backwards and finally got the device over the last step. "Now carefully,"

BAM!

The chariot shook as the device hit the ground. "I said careful!" Bio Chem ran over to the machine and checked to make sure it was undamaged.

"Sorry," Dash said, not very convincingly. "But that thing weighs a ton," She closed the door behind her and moments later they were taking off. "What does that thing even do?"

Bio Chem didn't even look up at her as he explained. "It's an electromagnetic field stabilizer; it stabilizes the electromagnetic field in an area."

Dash actually understood what he said, a combination of weather mechanics in high school and hanging around Twilight had taught her a thing or two.

Bio Chem and Rainbow Dash sat in silence for a while, after checking his machine Bio Chem took a seat opposite of Rainbow Dash and stared out the window.

That went on for almost five minutes before Rainbow Dash's boredom got the best of her, a personal record.

"So," The rainbow Pegasus began. "You know Twilight." It was more of a statement than a question, she hoped it would start him off on a story of how he met her.

"Yes."

Or not.

Dash fidgeted in her seat for a little before trying again. "She said you were her science partner."

"Yep, Mr. Meiosis' third period biology." Bio Chem cocked his head slightly remembering. "He didn't like me very much."

"Why's that?" Dash asked, glad he was finally talking.

Bio Chem deadpanned at her. "I was a troublemaker." His voice was dry and humorless.

"Uhh, really?" Dash knew he was kidding but didn't know why.

"Of course not, he didn't like that I was in the class in the first place," He slumped slightly. "A lot of ponies didn't."

Dash was quiet for another moment, hoping she wouldn't have to say anything. After a few more minutes, she spoke up again. "Ok, Ursa in the room, was it the Earth Pony thing or am I missing something?"

Bio Chem rolled his eyes. "Of course it was the Earth Pony thing, other than a few professors everyone in that school was a Unicorn, or an Alicorn, but that was only Princess Cadence and she was in the upper class."

"So how'd you get in?" Dash asked.

Bio Chem waved his hoof back and forth. "Ordered the application form and tests for the science department, filled them out, aced them, then my father took the issue straight to the Princess after the headmaster tried to keep me out."

"And that actually worked?" Dash asked in disbelief.

The stallion shrugged. "It probably helped that my IQ tests read higher than some of the teachers, and that I rigged up my own magic suppressor from a diagram in a text book which I modified and turned on when I met with some of the magic professors one on one."

He smiled at Dash. "The sudden drain in magic in the room freaked them out so badly they fainted, and I think it put me on Princess Celestia's watch list."

Dash found herself trying to sink into her seat. "Ahh, cool."

Bio Chem went back to staring out the window, this time Dash didn't try to talk to him. She had no idea why but she was inexplicably nervous about the stallion.

"Oh look," He said with a grin. "We're here."

A moment later the chariot touched down on the landing pad. Dash was the first out, spreading her wings and doing a few loops as Bio Chem dragged his machine down the steps, it was much easier on the way down but Dash was honestly surprised when the device didn't fall through the cloud layer.

"The shell's mixed with cloud dust." Bio Chem explained. "Now come on, I wanna see what's up in the lightning factory."

* * *

Bio Chem and Rainbow Dash stood outside the entrance to the lightning factory, arguably the most dangerous of all the buildings in the weather compound. "Well, no use waiting around here." The head of the weather compound had told the pair that they had evacuated the building last night after... things, started appearing, Bio Chem was irrationally excited about finding these creatures. He pulled some kind of scanner from his saddle bags and opened the door.

His eyes went wide when he saw what was inside. "Sweet Celestia." He looked over the swarm of creatures in the main room, darting amongst the machines. There were two types he could see, both obviously related to each other in some way.

The first was what appeared to be a small metal ball with an eyeball in the center and with three screws and two magnets on their bodies. Bio Chem assumed these were merely analogous to their inanimate counterparts and were evolved to, he theorized, help them feast on electromagnetic waves if their current place of habitation was any indication.

The second group of creatures appeared to be three of the former creatures attached to each other. "Symbiotic relationship perhaps?" He asked aloud as he typed on his datapad. "Possibly so they can store more electricity and move further from the power sour-"

Bio Chem looked at the readings on his screen, then checked it again, then turned it off and back on to make sure. "Impossible." He muttered.

"What's impossible?' Dash asked, eyeing the Pokémon in curiosity, although really they weren't the most interesting she'd seen, that probably went to Fang.

"They are, they're," A spark in Bio Chem's eye drew Dash's attention, and would've warned anyone who knew the stallion to go find Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or Arcane Glyph.

His smile spread wider and wider, surpassing reaching Pinkie Pie levels but creepier. "They're some kind of metal based life forms, they have DNA but, well, they shouldn't! For all intents and purposes they are made of organic steel!"

Bio Chem rushed over to his machine. "And I'm going to catch one."

Dash's eyes went wide. "Princess Celestia said we were supposed to find whatever was causing the problem and deal with it without causing any living creatures harm." Celestia had been very clear when she had told Rainbow Dash the plan, specifically so she could use it against Bio Chem should the need arise.

"While that is true Miss Dash, I know the current definition of living and it does not include floating metal eyeballs." Bio Chem went to switch on his machine but a cyan hoof grabbed him by the wrist and stopped him.

"If there's even the slightest chance that that's going to hurt these things, don't even think about turning it on."

Bio Chem rolled his eyes. "Look, I get that you're loyalty and all but I know life, it's basically my PhD. and these things are machines, which I also have a PhD. in. So I'd appreciate it if you let me do my Job and- Hey! Where are you going?"

Dash launched herself off the ground and into the swarm, Rainbow Dash hovered in the air and waited, the Magnemite and Magneton paused and several floated over to Dash. One of the Magnemite positioned itself directly in front of the Pegasus.

"Hello," It greeted her in an androgynous voice. "Are you a Po-ny?"

"Yeah, that's me, and you know who else is a Pony?" She asked rhetorically, a mischievous smile growing on her face. "That guy," She pointed to Bio Chem who was waiting for her to return before he turned on his machine. "And he can tell you a lot more about this place than I can."

The Magnemite and Magneton buzzed in glee, and then a few dozen rushed over to the stallion while a few more darted deeper into the factory, still leaving the majority floating aimlessly around the machines.

Meanwhile, Bio Chem found himself surrounded by the Steel-Types, all of which were pelting him with questions.

"What is the point of this factory?"

"Why does it appear that we are in the sky?"

"What substance is the ground and walls made of, and why are we able to pass through them?"

"Did Lord Arceus send you? Where is he?"

"Yes, yes. Where is Lord Arceus?"

"Where?"

"Where?"

"Where?"

Bio Chem stumbled backwards as the Pokémon continued to ask him where Arceus was, repeating it in their robotic voices. Before he could answer, a much deeper voice sounded from deeper in the factory.

"Silence!"

The Magnet Pokémon stopped their investigation and flew towards the sound of the voice, all of them.

Soon another being entered the room, similar to the Magnemite and Magneton but very different.

It was much larger, and more oblong, it had three much larger magnets on its body and two equally proportionate screws. It also had some kind of antenna atop its head, its eyes, much like a Hammerhead Shark's, were on opposite sides of its body and a large, red, pupil in the center of its head.

It floated right up to Bio Chem, the multitude of Magnemite and Magneton behind it. "Are you the one who knows of this factory?" It asked.

Bio Chem nodded weakly.

"You will answer the questions that I set before you, and then you may continue doing whatever it is you came here to do. Do you find this situation acceptable?" The Magnezone's monotone voice made it very hard to tell how it felt, but Bio Chem nodded. Hoping it was trying to be reasonable.

If Magnezone had lips, it would've smiled. "Thank you Po-ny, first question..."

* * *

"Final question," Magnezone finally said after almost twenty minutes of Q&amp;A. Bio Chem had never explained more about Cloudsdale in his life, and he was also going to have to somehow redefine what constituted a "Living creature" when he got back to Canterlot.

Out of boredom Rainbow Dash had begun playing with some of the Magnet Pokémon, mainly seeing what she could get them to stick to and for how long before they flew off.

"What is it that you came here to do?"

Bio Chem paled and Dash snapped to attention. The Geneticist and weather pony unsure of how to ask a floating creature made of steel to leave the building.

Bio Chem was going to ask Dash for help but saw the rainbow mare was standing a good fifty feet away on top of one of the machines, she waved at him.

"Loyalty my plot," He cursed under his breath. He looked up at the Magnezone and sighed, then smiled. "You see Magnezone, this factory is very important in the daily running of the Equestrian weather service, and you and your swarm are creating electromagnetic interference with the machines that make the lightning, in short, you really can't stay here." The stallion shifted nervously. "We were sent by the Princess to get you out of here."

The Magnet Area Pokémon froze in midair, all three of its eyes trained on the Pony.

"You... wish for us to leave?" The Electric-Type buzzed for a moment as its appendages rotated. "That is not possible; no other suitable source of nourishment is within traveling distance."

Bio Chem groaned, large levels of electricity were rare in Equestria and Equus as a whole, and almost all of them were in cloud cities.

While Bio Chem pondered just how to get the creatures out of the factory, Rainbow Dash was curious about something. "Hold up a minute," She flew over to the Magnezone and landed on top of the creature, she leaned over its forehead and met its gaze upside down. "Where did you guys live before this entire thing started?"

Magnezone buzzed momentarily and answered. "My swarm made its home in the Badlands surrounding the Power Plant of Lumiose City, we feasted off the generators."

Bio Chem paused. "Wait you're saying that your natural habitat is any building that produces high levels of electricity?"

"That is correct."

Bio Chem faced hooved. "That's a serious problem," He turned to Rainbow Dash. "Right, it appears we're going to have to work out a compromi... wait, how much power have you been draining from the generators exactly?"

"As we did in Kalos, we drain the excess electricity that escapes the machines, as well as the electromagnetic energy in these clouds. Our bodies and abilities are able to remain fully functional on approximately ten percent of the output of these machines."

Bio Chem blinked once. "Did you do anything to the workers? Anything at all that could be considered an attack."

"Negative."

Bio Chem shook his head. "Right, you're coming with me, I'm going to explain the situation to the head of this facility and having you there will make it seem more realistic."

"But, it's all true." Dash added.

"Yes, but this is insane, and I would know," He looked up at the mare, still sitting on Magnezone. "You can go do whatever you want, I think I can take it from here. " Dash's eyes narrowed, eyeing Bio Chem suspiciously. The stallion rolled his eyes. "Don't worry," He sighed. "I can't experiment on sapient beings... anymore, the Princess made sure of that."

Rainbow stared at him for a moment more but eventually took off, planning to look around Cloudsdale for a bit before heading back to Ponyville.

Bio Chem watched Rainbow leave, and then turned back to Magnezone. "Alright, let's get this over with."


	19. Chapter 17

Fluttershy walked off the train in Ponyville station, followed by Korrina and the other Pokémon. Cubone sat peacefully on her back, looking around at everything with interest.

"So other ponies are gonna be able to understand us, right?" Misty asked.

"That's what the Princess said, yes." Fluttershy looked around at the various ponies. "At least, I think that's what she said."

Misty plodded ahead of the group. "Only one way to know for sure." Then Vaporeon looked around the station, then trotted over to a grey Pegasus mare with a mail bag slung over her shoulder. "Excuse me, miss?"

The mare looked down at Misty. "Hello!" She chirped happily.

Misty smiled. "Hi, just wanted to make sure that you could understand me."

She giggled. "Of course I do, I understand everyone." She held out a hoof. "I'm Derpy."

"Hi Derpy, I'm Misty." Misty was glad she had chosen to talk to Derpy, she seemed like a nice mare. "Well, I gotta go."

Derpy waved as Misty trotted off. "Bye, Misty." Once Misty was back with her group Derpy pulled a note pad from her bag, eyeing the Pokémon. "Blue fish-fox, yellow and blue Diamond Dog like creatures, white, red and blue speckled egg..." She said as she jotted down the notes.

"Well that settles that." Misty said.

"So what now?" Fluttershy asked.

Korrina shrugged. "Guess Lucario and I'll head back to the farm first, tell Mrs. Smith what's up."

"I was figuring I would go for swim," Misty shifted nervously. "Since I'm gonna be like this for a while I figured I'd see what I can do."

Korrina raised an eyebrow. "Alright just, don't get too attached, we are getting back to normal."

Misty nodded, then turned to Fluttershy. "Know any good ponds or anything?"

Fluttershy thought for a moment. "There's a little stream by my house, it leads into Ponyville Lake, I can take you there, but then I really should try to find Pinkie and Discord."

* * *

"A little to the left!" Pinkie shouted.

"Righty-o, Pinkie Pie." Discord called back, maneuvering the stage light into place.

"Little more… little more… perfect!" Pinkie turned to Zap, who was sitting next to the power cable. "Alright Zap, light 'er up."

"Rotom, tom, tom." An electric pulse traveled from the Pokémon and into the light, activating the hoofball-grade lighting system.

"Perfect." Pinkie crossed another item off her checklist. "That's lighting, food, dessert, stolen meat products… still need Oran berries."

"Zzzzz." A blue and purple creature floated up behind Pinkie, its disconnected head floating to face the pink pony.

"Hi, Entropy," Pinkie greeted the Pokémon, flipping a few pages to see if she had time to get some things for Mewtwo's party. "What's up?"

The Porygon-Z had found Pinkie and Discord last night in Canterlot, and had immediately clung to Discord like butter on toast.

"Z, z, z, zzz."

"Uh huh, uh huh, I hear ya."

"Uhhh, Pinkie Pie?" Pinkie turned to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo staring up at her in confusion. "Can you understand him, eh, her... it?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Not. At. All." Pinkie answered, shaking her head with each word. "What's up, girls?"

"Well," Scootaloo began. "We've kinda just been wandering around town, and we heard that you were setting up some kind of party."

"And we realized we haven't tried to get our party-throwing cutie marks." The CMC's had been sent home the night before and had been told they would receive their punishments the next morning. Thus, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had stayed in their bedrooms, and after her sister left Apple Bloom had avoided her brother and granny, until boredom had driven to take what was coming to them.

Coincidentally, this had coincided with one god announcing his plans, suffice it to say, this had caused temporary panic, which had, for a while at least, cleared the CMC's of their wrong doings as everypony tried to sort out the issue. And while everything was back to almost normal the next morning, the girls punishments were still forgotten. Which was why they were now out and about, and discussing ways to get their Cutie Marks, several of which involved Pokémon.

None of which would have ended very well.

"Soo," Sweetie continued. "Can we help you…?" She looked up at Discord, who was painting some kind of art in the sky. "And Discord, with the party."

Pinkie tapped her chin. "Well, I could use some help getting some supplies, and if you girls do that I can start planning Belle's bachelorette, and Gene's bachelor party, after I get the last thing I need for Mewtwo's 'Welcome to Equus' party." Pinkie smiled. "So I don't see why not!"

Unbeknownst to Pinkie, there was one thing that was supposed to stand in the way of something like this. After Discord had been released, Twilight had made several contingency plans revolving around the chaos lord. The other Element Bearers had been present for these planning sessions and they had all been revised after the Elements were lost.

But Pinkie hadn't been present for one, not due to her having some other plan, or simply being late, the others had not told her because the plan had involved her, and Discord, and three other ponies.

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy had solemnly sworn to never, never let Pinkie Pie, Discord, and the CMC's work together on anything ever.

They had almost Pinkie Promised but Dash had stopped them, saying that Pinkie would know.

Pinkie and the other beings involved in their pact had no idea.

"Alright!" The CMC's hoof bumped. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Party Ponies!"

In Canterlot and the Hall of Legends respectively, Princess Celestia and Arceus shuddered.

"Alright, girls," Pinkie said, jotting down a list of directions and supplies. "You're gonna have to split up for this. Apple Bloom, I want you to stay here and make sure everything goes according to plan."

Pinkie Pie shoved a hard hat on to Apple Bloom's head. "Yes ma'am." She saluted.

"Sweetie Belle, this is a list of stuff we're gonna need and a bag of bits; get as many streamers as you can!"

Sweetie grabbed the list in her magic and walked away. "Carrots, candy… candy carrots," She read the list as she walked off.

"Scootaloo," Pinkie turned to the little Pegasus. "I need you to pass out these invitations."

Pinkie dropped a pile of invitations in front of Scootaloo, they left a small crater in the ground. Scootaloo's jaw dropped.

"Pass these out to every pony and Pokémon in town, and then see if you can get one to Zecora and any Pokémon in the Everfree."

Scootaloo shook her head, then smiled nervously. "Y-you got it, Pinkie Pie."

The little Pegasus grabbed the pile of invitations and dragged them towards her scooter and the wagon attached to it.

Pinkie Pie looked down at her checklist. "Willing volunteers to lessen work load, check."

"Say what now?" Apple Bloom asked in confusion.

"Never mind that, go help Discord with the stage."

Apple Bloom looked over to see the Draconequus pounding nails into a large wooden structure. When the filly turned back to Pinkie she saw that the Party Pony was gone.

"It needs to be done by tonight!" Pinkie called from over further off than should have been possible.

As Pinkie Pie bounced off, Apple Bloom shrugged, passing it off as Pinkie being Pinkie.

Pinkie Pie hopped through town, Zap nestled in her mane, looking over her checklist. "Alright! Mewtwo said. "Stop bothering me, already! I don't want a party!" I ignored him and stood there bouncing, then he sighed and said "If I give you an answer will you stop jumping out of the dresser?" Then he said. "I do enjoy apple pie, and no, I don't remember when my birthday was." Which is the saddest thing I've ever heard, or maybe the second."

Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Either way I need to get an apple pie, and who makes apple pies better than…" Pinkie Pie jumped and landed in front of… "The Apples!" Sweet Apple Acres.

"Tom?" Zap had no idea what had just happened, and he was beginning to wonder if it was safe to be around Pinkie.

Pinkie hopped towards the house, smiling all the way. "But ya know, Zap, this can't be a normal apple pie. No, I've gotta make it super-dy duper special, you only come to an alien planet with an entire ecosystem in tow to escape the evils of your home world once."

"Tom." Zap nodded in agreement.

"Which is why I brought these." Pinkie Pie reached into her saddle bags and pulled out a bag with a stitch of a rainbow apple on it.

"Rotom?"

"No silly, these are Zap Apples, they're a magical fruit, native only to Equestria, and only around Ponyville. I asked Discord about it once, and he said that the Everfree's chaos magic sunk into the flora and fauna, although I'm pretty sure he made Poison Joke himself."

"Tom tom?"

"I know Zap Apples normally only grow at a certain time of year, but I kept these babies safe and sound since last season for something special, and a 'Welcome to Equus' Zap Apple apple pie for Mewtwo is just that kind of special."

Pinkie Pie trotted up to the house and knocked. A second later, Big Mac opened the door.

"Hi, Big Mac!" Pinkie Pie hopped inside. "Is Applejack home yet?"

"Nope." Big Mac replied.

"Oh, then I need your help!" Pinkie Pie showed him her bag of Zap Apples. "Do you know how to make Zap Apple pie?"

"Nope." Big Mac didn't do much kitchen work, he cooked about as well as his sister lied.

"Alright, then is Granny Smith around?"

"Eeyup."

Pinkie Pie smiled. "Kitchen?"

"Eeyup."

"Thanks, cuz!" Pinkie said with a smile as she trotted into the kitchen. "Mewtwo," She whispered to herself. "Prepare to have your taste buds blown away!"

* * *

Gene watched as the landscape rolled past them, he had been on trains before but never one as… odd as the ones they had in Equestria, and he was surprised that they ran as fast as they did.

"So, what's Appleoosa like?" He asked Applejack, the only pony in the car.

Applejack smiled. "Nice enough. Nice ponies, and buffalo too. Wonder how they're reactin' to this whole thing."

"I just don't wanna get attacked as soon as I get off the train." Gene replied.

"Don't worry, Ah'll be with ya, so I doubt anything's gonna go wrong."

Gene smiled and looked over at his mate. Belle had nodded off after a few hours and Fang had followed suit.

"Gene?" Applejack asked, getting the Gallade's attention. "Can ah ask ya somethin'?" She looked down slightly. "It's kinda personal, but Ah'm a might curious."

"Sure, what about?" He asked, slightly suspicious.

"Well, uh, gosh, how do ah say this? Ah know you use ta be human, and that you and Belle had the whole…" She gestured vaguely around to get her point across. "But you and her looked so similar, least from what she showed us the other day, so uh… why don't you guys have kids yet?"

Gene was shocked and confused by the question. "Because… well, that would be impossible. Belle and I aren't, or, uh, weren't compatible in that way. We were different species."

Applejack nodded. "Right, but so are ponies and griffins, and Twilight told me she met a hippogriff once up in Canterlot."

"A hippo-what now?" Gene asked in confusion.

"Oh, um, half pony, half griffin." Applejack explained. "And we have less in common appearance wise than you two did, well maybe about the same."

Gene nodded. "Well I can see where the confusion's from but unfortunately Belle and I couldn't have kids."

"And now?"

At that point Gene realized something that seemed obvious in retrospect. "We… can." His face lost all expression. "I could… be a dad, I can…" A goofy smile formed on Gene's face as he drifted off.

Applejack laughed lightly at her friend's realization, then she saw something out the window. "Gene," The Gallade didn't hear her. "Gene!" He snapped to attention.

"Hmm?"

Applejack pointed out the window. "See that?" Gene looked out the window and saw a little town come into view over the hill, the town itself appeared calm but the sandstorm that raged in the distance said otherwise. "That there's Appleoosa."

* * *

Applejack led the group of four off the train and into town, the almost abandoned town.

"That's probably not a good sign." Belle commented.

Applejack ignored her and trotted ahead of the group. "Braeburn? Strongheart? Anyone around?"

No one answered. "Oooh, ghost town." Gene said jokingly. "I bet there's a Chandelure around here somewhere, just waiting to suck out our souls!"

Belle rolled her eyes. "As long as we have Fang, I think we'll be fine."

When no one else said anything Applejack got nervous. "Uhh, ya'll are jokin', right?"

"Half joking." Gene answered. "Chandelure really can steal your souls." Applejack's eyes filled with terror. "But don't worry, they prefer graveyards and spooky towers and… ok, ghost towns but I doubt there's anything here that's dangerous."

The group walked for a while longer before they became fed up. "Alright, this is stupid; Belle? Find them if you would."

Belle smiled and clasped her hands together. As the Gardevoir's eyes took on a bluish glow, a psychic wave traveled outward, alerting Belle to any nearby presences.

Belle sighed and walked over to the sheriff's office. "Come on." The group followed her over and, as Applejack pushed the door open, the earth pony was pulled inside by a pair of light yellow hooves.

The three Pokémon stood there for a moment, confused. "Umm," Gene began. "Applejack? Are you alright?" More muffled sounds from behind the door.

Gene sighed. "Look," he called. "I don't know who you are, but you can either open the door or we're gonna break in. Seriously, my dog breathes fire, and I do kinda have swords for arms."

"Not to mention that I can teleport." Belle added helpfully.

There was silence for a moment, then the sound of someone being slapped on the back of the head and a soft "Ow!", followed by Applejack pushing the door open.

"Sorry 'bout that." She apologized.

As Applejack stepped out of the sheriff's office she was followed by two Earth Pony stallions and a young female Buffalo.

"Gene, Belle, Fang, this is my cousin Braeburn," The stallion was still rubbing the back of his head, he held his hat at his side. "This here's Little Strongheart," The Buffalo calf eyed the Pokémon nervously, especially Fang. "And Sheriff Silverstar." The Sheriff stared at the Pokémon, unblinking, as if he were unsure of what to do with them.

"Umm, hi." Gene offered, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, hog tie me and hang me from the rafters, they do talk." Braeburn let out a low whistle.

Applejack sighed. "Braeburn, what's goin' on here? Ah ain't seen a soul since I showed up."

Sheriff Silverstar stepped forward. "Well Miss Applejack," He began. "It all started-"

"Three days ago, Pokémon suddenly appeared all over your town, you were afraid, and it didn't get better when an inter-dimensional deity explained the situation to you." Belle summed up.

Sheriff Silverstar stared at her disapprovingly. "You some kinda mind reader?" He asked in suspicion.

Belle shrugged. "Yes, but I didn't need to read your mind to figure that out, we've been through the same thing, except we actually talked to the god."

The stare didn't stop but Little Strongheart stepped in front of the sheriff, blocking it. "We've been inside since yesterday, waiting for the Princesses to fix the situation."

Gene laughed. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. We Pokémon are here to stay."

"WHAT!?" All three Appleoosans asked at once.

"Yesh," Gene said. "I didn't think we were that bad."

"You're telling me the Princess is just gonna let these things stay here?" Sheriff Silverstar asked, sounding almost angry. "One of those monsters is whipping up a sandstorm and cutting off our path to the orchard!"

Gene gritted his teeth. "Did you just call us monsters?"

The sheriff eyed the Pokémon. "Well-"

"Eenope." Applejack held her hooves out and stopped both of them. "You two ain't fightin' over this. Sheriff, we actually came her to stop whatever's been causin' that storm."

The sheriff raised an eyebrow. "You four are gonna stop a dragon? Ah know you're strong, Miss Applejack but not even you can stop a dragon, and those three, well some of 'em look more fit ta go dancin' rather than fightin'."

Belle glared at the sheriff, then gave Gene her "Please let me hurt him just a little?" look. Gene had to admit, he considered it.

"Ok, Sheriff," He finally said. "First off, don't underestimate my mate, and never pull the damsel in distress thing around her, I've seen her take down opponents who were about five times your size easily."

Silverstar shot Gene a disbelieving look.

"And secondly, I've worked with this type of Pokémon before, in fact, I'm hoping that it's the one I know, and if it isn't I'll still probably be able to talk some sense into it."

"You're gonna talk sense into a dragon?" Little Strongheart asked.

"You worked with a dragon?" Braeburn asked in awe.

Gene shrugged. "Technically two, although River was a lot easier to train than Draco."

Sheriff Silverstar threw his hooves up in defeat. "Fine; ya'll wanna get yourselves killed by some vicious beast? Be my guest, but I have a duty to protect the citizens of Equestria, so Braeburn? Go with 'em and if anything goes wrong, get Miss Applejack back here safely. Ah'm gonna go talk to Chief Thunderhooves 'bout this."

The stallion trotted off, eyeing the Pokémon as he passed them. "You'll have to forgive him," Braeburn said. "He's been on edge ever since them crit- uh- ya'll started showin' up."

"I can tell." Belle agreed.

Gene looked in the direction of the sandstorm. "Well, if we're going to do this we should get going, Flygon, at least wild ones, are active most of the day but they don't like the cold, you know, reptilian, so we need to get there before nightfall."

Braeburn's eyes widened. "Wait, you're serious about this? I mean, it is a Dragon."

"Yeah and even if it's not Draco, Belle's basically a dragon slayer." Gene said nonchalantly as he started off towards the distant storm

"You know I don't like it when you call me that." Belle complained as she caught up with him.

Gene smiled. "Sorry my sweet Fairy Princess, but it's the truth."

Belle blushed and smiled softly as she heard Applejack suppressing her laughter, and saw Fang smirk from his place at Gene's side.

Applejack, Braeburn and Little Strongheart caught up with the Pokémon soon after. "So what's this ah, Flymon?"

"Flygon." Fang corrected, surprising Applejack.

"Uh, right, what's a Flygon like?"

Gene tapped his chin. "They're some of the smaller dragon Pokémon, not usually over six feet, sort of a muted green with light red casing covering their eyes."

"Do they sing?" Little Strongheart asked. "Some members of my tribe who went to investigate reported what sounded like a mare singing."

"That's the sound that a Flygon's wings make when it flies through a sandstorm." Belle explained. "Although I suppose a Flygon could sing if they wanted to."

"It probably wouldn't sound all that great though." Gene added.

After a short while the group found themselves a fair distance from the town, surrounded by the desert. And some desert Pokémon.

"I swear that cactus is followin' us." Braeburn warned in a hushed voice.

Gene looked back at the cactus, which was actually a Cacturne, and sighed. "Don't worry, it'll leave after it figures out we're not gonna die."

That only made the ponies, and the Buffalo, more nervous. "Fine," Gene conceded. "Fang, use Flamethrower."

The Dark-Type smirked and turned around. His jaws lit with fire. The Cacturne's eyes shot open and it quickly ran in the opposite direction.

"Heh, heh." Fang trotted back over to his trainer.

"What was that?" Applejack asked.

"A Cacturne, it's a Grass-Type so-"

"Ah meant the thing with Fang." Applejack corrected.

"Oh, that," Gene patted his dog on the head. "A Houndoom's fire leaves a permanent burn, not the actual mark, just the feeling."

Applejack's mouth hung open. "And you fight other Pokémon with Fang's fire?" She asked, sounding slightly distressed.

Gene saw the minefield before him and thought of a quick way around it. "Yeah, but only when he's angry, like, enraged angry, otherwise it's normal fire, still scares the daylights out of just about anyone though."

Applejack wasn't completely satisfied but she dropped it.

Not ten minutes later the group ran into their next Pokémon.

"Diglett-dig. Diglett-dig. Diglett-dig."

"Trio, trio, trio."

"Diglett-dig. Diglett-dig. Diglett-dig."

"Trio, trio, trio."

"What in the world are they?" Little Strongheart asked, kneeling down to look at the little creatures.

"The little singular ones are Diglett, the others are Dugtrio." Gene explained, watching a Diglett slide past him. "They just hang around in desert or rocky areas and they-"

"No wait, let me guess," Applejack interrupted. "They dig."

Gene smiled. "You guessed it."

They left the Ground-types to their digging and continued on their way. They were already halfway to the orchard and the sandstorm, and were just passing the time by talking. Unaware that high above, they were being watched.

The dragon honed his powerful eyes in on the Gardevoir and Gallade below him, he knew at this height he would just appear to be a large bird Pokémon. He recognized the Gardevoir, as well as the Houndoom, but the Gallade, something was off about him, but that wasn't important. What was important was that the strange Gallade was acting affectionately towards Belle, and she wasn't stopping him.

"I don't care where we are," Draco grumbled to himself. "A mate is for life, no matter what." Draco loved Gene like he was his hatch-mate, that would be a brother in human terms, and he was not going to let some strange Pokémon take his brother's mate.

Draco repositioned his wings and drifted behind the group, then he folded his wings against his body and shot downwards.

Gene heard the wind whistling behind him, he thought nothing of it until Belle tensed up and her eyes widened. "Gene, look out!" She shouted, a moment too late, as a two hundred pound dragon slammed into Gene from behind, knocking the ponies to the ground as it shot past.

"Who are you?" Draco growled. "And what are you doing with my hatch-mate's mate?"

Gene, now lying on the ground, pinned beneath a Dragon, had four things going through his head at that point, the first was, _"Neat, I survived that."_ The second, not surprisingly, was _"Oh good, it's Draco, he's not gonna eat me."_ Not only had his questions made his identity clear, he had the same shaped tail fins as Draco, which were slightly rounded at the tip before curving in at a sharp angle. The third was _"I shouldn't've left my hat at Rarity's."_ Gene had assumed he wouldn't really need his old hat anymore, considering he had a natural helmet now, and the fourth was. "Did you just call me your hatch-mate?"

Draco reeled back in shock. "That voice…" He couldn't not recognize the voice, and yet he couldn't believe it.

"Draco," Belle ran up behind the Flygon and put one hand on his shoulder. "It really is him."

The Mystic Pokémon looked from Belle to the Gallade in disbelief. "H-how did… is that what Lord Arceus meant when he said 'transformed'?"

Gene nodded. "I guess I got my reward, didn't I, Draco?"

The Flygon would've teared up if he could. "Gene." He walked back over to his trainer. "I'm sor-"

Gene wrapped his arms around his Pokémon. "Don't worry, I'm not a fragile little human anymore." He said with a laugh.

Draco smiled and returned his trainers hug.

As the two broke apart, Applejack trotted over. "So, Ah take it this is Draco?"

Gene smiled. "Yep, Draco, this is my friend Applejack, her cousin Braeburn, and their friend Little Strongheart, everyone, this is Draco one of my Pokémon and best friends."

"Fly!" He greeted the ponies happily.

The Appleoosans were less than pleased. "Great, now could you get him ta stop with the sandstor- wait what happened to it?"

The sandstorm had indeed dissipated, having lost its energy when Draco got all emotional, the Flygon's eyes widened in fear behind the tinted lenses. "Uh oh." He whispered.

"What is it?" Gene asked. "Why were you even causing a sandstorm in the first place?"

Draco shook his head. "When I first woke up, I was in a cave a little away from that orchard, but… I wasn't alone." Belle had set up the translator once Draco started explaining so they didn't have to restate what he said.

"Well what else was-?" Belle began, but was interrupted when the ground started shaking.

"Earthquake!" Little Strongheart screamed.

"No," Draco said, lifting himself slightly off the ground. "It's just using Dig."

Gene's eyes widened as the shaking subsided, and an enormous steel snake burst from the ground. "AAARRAAHHHHHHH!" The ground shook with thunderous roar.

Gene gulped. "Steelix." He said aloud, informing the ponies. "Also, run."


	20. Chapter 18

Applejack froze as she stared at the creature that had just burst from the ground, it was at least thirty feet long, and it looked like someone had glued a bunch of boulders together, plus the spiked boulders and its jaw made the thing look like a real monster.

"Applejack!" The mare turned to Gene. "You need to get out of here!"

The Steelix finally noticed the group. "AARAHHH!" It cried again, dropping to the ground much in the way a snake would and began charging towards them, tearing up the ground as it did.

Applejack's eyes widened, then she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Belle, just as the Gardevoir whispered "Teleport."

Applejack had been teleported before; Twilight did it enough that she was accustomed to the feeling, but this was different. Normally she just felt a little tingly during and after the teleport, like she had received a mild shock, and was transported from one place to another almost instantly. When Belle teleported her, she felt as if her entire body was being stretched out, then put back in another place, although it didn't last long.

When Applejack opened her eyes she saw she was standing a safe distance from the Iron Snake Pokémon with Braeburn and Little Strongheart, Belle smiled at her, then teleported again.

"Are ya'll crazy?!" Applejack shouted, running towards the battle. "That thing really is a monster!" She knew it was a Pokémon, and that it was probably intelligent, but at that point, she didn't care.

Gene watched as the Steelix roared at the sky, letting loose a Dragon Breath as it did. Belle reappeared at his side. "Alright, Steel and Ground Type," He thought for a moment. "Belle, stay here, Fang?" The Houndoom cocked his head. "Light it up."

The Fire-Type smirked and took off towards the Steelix, which was slowly, and destructively, making its way towards town. "Oh no you don't." Fang pushed himself to go even faster and as he caught up with the Steelix, he jumped, and let loose a stream of scorching flames. "Flamethrower!"

The blast hit the Steelix square in the back, knocking the creature to the ground. "Insolent whelp!" It cried, its voice was deeper than a bass guitar. "I'll smash you! Iron Tail!"

The Iron Snake's tail shined and it brought it down, hard... on the spot Fang had been second ago. The Houndoom raced around the Pokémon. "Nasty Plot." he whispered to himself, immediately his eyes lit up as an idea formed in his head. "Over here ya big oaf!" He cried, jumping on top of a boulder.

Steelix turned and glared at Fang. "Why you... Headbutt!" Fang leapt from the boulder just as Steelix smashed it to pieces.

"Feint Attack!" Fang jumped forward, startling Steelix, who was shaking bits off rock off his head, and smacked him, it did little more than aggravate the Steel-Type.

"Rock Throw!" The Steelix dug his tail into the ground and hurled several large boulders at Fang, one of which hit its target and knocked Fang to the ground.

"Heh heh heh." The Steelix slowly made its way over to Fang. "You put up a good fight, mutt, but now, this is my win!"

Fang leapt to his feet and growled. "No one, calls me, a mutt! Inferno!"

Flames erupted from Fang's maw and shot forward, striking the ground in front of Steelix and engulfing him. "RAAAHHH!" This time the Iron Snake roared in pain, when the flames finally died down the Steel-Type still stood, panting, rather nasty burns littered its metal body. "Is that *huh* the best you've got?" He panted.

"No," Gene said from behind Fang. "But this is pretty close. Draco, use Superpower!"

Fang smirked and ducked as his teammate shot over him, and right towards Steelix, the Iron Snake's eyes widened as the Mystic Pokémon came closer and...

"**Wham!**"

Steelix was suddenly airborne, the now unconscious Pokémon landed with a mighty thud, creating a crater as it did.

Draco flew a few feet above the unconscious titan and Fang sat nearby, grinning.

"Good work, you two," Gene said as he and Belle made their way over. "Now what are we gonna do with it?"

At that point, Applejack, Braeburn and Little Strongheart ran up to them. "How did you do that?" Little Strongheart asked in awe. "I mean, that thing is like, five times your size!"

Fang shrugged. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

"And Fire beats Steel, and so does Fighting." Draco explained.

Braeburn stared at him blankly. "You threw that thing twenty feet in the air."

Draco looked confused for a moment and looked back at the unconscious Pokémon. "Felt higher than that."

Applejack looked at the Pokémon for a moment. "Is stuff like that actually normal for ya'll?"

Gene looked at his team, who all shrugged. "More or less."

Applejack was about to say something else but was interrupted when Sheriff Silverstar galloped over. "What in tarnation is goin' on here?" He asked. "And would someone please tell me what that thing is?" He pointed to the Steelix.

"A very angry, probably very confused Steelix that would have likely destroyed your town if Draco hadn't kept it inside that sandstorm." Belle answered.

The stallions jaw dropped. "You mean ya actually beat that thing?" He had assumed they had just found it.

Draco smiled. "I'm sorry for the Sandstorm, but I had to annoy it enough to keep it inside."

"You… ah… come again?" The sheriff stammered.

Gene sighed. "A Sandstorm can't actually harm a Steelix, they're immune, but if they just don't want to bother with one they'll just stay in their cave until it blows over."

"And… you four beat it?" The still shocked pony asked.

Gene chuckled. "No, just Fang and Draco."

The stallion glanced from the dragon to the hellhound. "Right." He said after a minute. "First off I'd like to apologize for what ah said back in town."

Gene smiled. "It's alright, I think the new situation's gonna take some getting used to for everyone."

"Ah guess you're right," The sheriff smiled. "And second off," He pointed to the Steelix. "What are we gonna do with that thing?"

Gene and Belle looked to each other.

"Do you have any chains we could borrow?" He asked after a moment.

"Say what now?" Applejack stared at him.

He held up his hands defensively. "We're just gonna try to talk to it, see if we can get it to leave peacefully."

"Can't you teleport it somewhere?" Braeburn asked Belle.

She raised an eyebrow at the stallion. "Steelix can dig through the ground at over one hundred miles an hour, it would wake up before I was able to get it half that far."

Little Strongheart shifted nervously on her hooves. "So you're going to try to talk some sense into a giant steel snake?"

"That's the plan." Gene answered. "Unless anyone has any other ideas?"

The ponies, and Buffalo, all looked at each other, but said nothing. "Well," Braeburn finally spoke up. "Talking did work with us and the Buffalo."

Little Strongheart smiled and nodded in agreement. Sheriff Silverstar sighed. "Fine, Ah'll go see if we have enough rope 'n chains to hold that thing down."

Gene leaned on the Steel-Type as the sheriff walked off. "So," He said jokingly. "Anyone have any questions?"

Three hooves shot into the air.

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Twilight said, looking at Professor Juniper. "No Pokémon actually have live birth."

"No," The Beheeyem shook her head. "Most lay eggs, some break off parts of their bodies, some are formerly human spirits in a new form, a few are man-made and one goes through binary fission, but none give birth to live young." The pair had been discussing Pokémon ever since they boarded the train.

"So only humans?" Twilight asked again, wanting to have her facts straight.

Juniper nodded. "Yeah, and you said that it's more split here?"

"Ponies, zebras, and griffins all have live births, but dragons, changelings and hippocampi lay eggs… and that's not even all the different races." Twilight reaffirmed.

Spike who, out of boredom, had been listening in on their conversation, spoke up. "So then Gene's dog hatched from an egg?"

"Fang, and he's a Houndoom, yes, so did Belle, and Lucario." Juniper was beginning to wonder just how different from her home world Equus was.

Twilight nodded and finished scribbling something in yet another notebook. "Well what's a Pokémon… hatching, like?"

Juniper though for a second. "It's more like a cradle really."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"A Pokémon egg, it's like a cradle, or a second womb. After the mother lays the egg, which can take anywhere between fourteen and almost three hundred days from the time it's conceived, the baby Pokémon continues to develop for up to another fifteen months, the lowest I think is a two week period for the egg to hatch after it's been laid."

"And the difference is in the species and the typing right?" Twilight ventured.

"Very astute, Twilight," Juniper complimented the Unicorn, making the student in her smile. "Yes, some Pokémon, Bug-Types and ones like Magikarp, are on the lower end, while complex dual types, say a Water and Electric-type, or Dragon Pokémon, take longer." Juniper thought for a moment, then added. "I think the longest it takes, from conception to hatching, is Hydreigon, taking just under... I think... twenty months? Yeah, about twenty months, then a baby Deino will hatch."

Twilight shuddered as she remembered the creature that attacked them back in the Everfree. "And the hatching itself… or, umm, second birth?"

Juniper smiled. "Hatching is fine, and… Twilight, it's something you have to experience, the egg glows with light as the shell begins to crack and when it breaks, the energy that it releases just, have you ever experienced the feeling in a room right after a… foal, has been born?"

Twilight shook her head, she had only ever been present for Spike's hatching, and she had a pretty good feeling that this was different.

"It's like that feeling, only it permeates the area, and for a moment everything's just so... peaceful." Juniper finished with a smile.

Twilight smiled. "Juniper, do you know anything about magic?"

"I know you ponies use it in your daily lives in one form or another and it permeates throughout Equus, why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you knew about the kind that comes from your world, and the Pokémon in particular."

Juniper frowned. "Twilight, I-"

"Hey guys, we're here." Spike interrupted.

Sure enough, the train had arrived in Trottingham. Twilight got up and walked towards the door. "Come on, we'll start again later." She said to Juniper.

The Beheeyem nodded and floated after her. "So, Twilight what do you know about Trottingham?" She asked as they stepped out on to the train platform.

"It's one of Equestria's older settlements; in fact, only Canterlot and Cloudsdale are officially older than it, and it was the first area settled by earth ponies. Cloudsdale is of course a Pegasus-founded city, and Canterlot was more of a group effort lead by unicorns."

"Interesting." Juniper commented as she left the train station behind. She was surprised to see several Pokémon scattered about as Twilight lead them through town, and not just small ones.

A Talonflame sat perched on the edge of a bird bath, a group of Aipom swung in the trees of a nearby park, and a group of foals were playing with a young Kangaskhan, while its mother stood watch.

"Well what's the town like?" Juniper asked.

"A lot like Ponyville really, or any small town, I've only ever met two ponies from here personally, a young colt back in Ponyville who moved there before he could remember his first Nightmare Night, and this stallion, Time Turner, although I've never really talked to either of them."

"Derpy says Trottingham's more old fashioned than Ponyville, kinda like one big Winter Wrap Up, more physically driven than magically." Spike added.

Twilight looked at her assistant curiously and he chortled. "While you and the others are out on some big adventure, who do you think gets the mail?"

Twilight smiled and turned back to Juniper, who was looking slightly confused. "Everything alright?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Juniper began. "Just... what's Nightmare Night? And Winter Wrap Up?"

Twilight facehoofed. "Right, keep forgetting the different worlds thing. Nightmare Night is a holiday in October, it's kind of a celebration for Princess Luna, or that's what it's probably becoming now, where foals dress up in costumes and go door to door collecting candy."

Juniper would've raised an eyebrow, but she no longer had any. "Like Halloween?"

"What?" Twilight deadpanned.

"It's a holiday back on Earth," Juniper explained. "It involves Ghost Pokèmon, candy, costumes, and Lord Giratina... or it use to." Recently, the holiday had become more for the candy, and less for appeasing any Ghosts, let alone their patron.

"Actually, that's what Nightmare Night is, basically." Twilight stopped. "The candy started as an offering to Nightmare Moon, and the costumes as a way to hide from her so she wouldn't eat you."

Juniper's eyes went wide. "I thought you said Nightmare Moon was trapped on the moon for a thousand years, until you saved Luna."

Twilight giggled. "The gobble you up thing was never real, I don't actually know how it started even."

"Oh, alright, and Winter Wrap Up?" Juniper inquired.

"That's when ponies clean winter up and make way for spring, move the clouds, melt the white snow, welcome back the southern birds... you don't have anything like that?"

Juniper shook her head.

"Huh, you know, your world sounds really interesting." Twilight noted.

Juniper laughed. "That really means something, coming from the magic pony Princess whose teacher raises the sun."

Twilight giggled. "Yeah, I guess it does look that way, doesn't it?"

Spike rolled his eyes as the two continued to talk, walking slightly ahead of them. The little dragon had a bad feeling that Juniper would be coming back to Ponyville with them, and judging by how the professor acted, it would be like living with two Twilights. Spike actually shuddered at the idea.

Spike stopped in front of a large building and held a claw out behind him, stopping Twilight as well.

"Oh, looks like we're here. Thanks Spike." Twilight trotted into City Hall, followed by Juniper.

"No problem, Twilight." Spike grumbled to himself, although Juniper managed to catch it.

Twilight trotted up to the front desk, where a mare who she assumed was the mayor's receptionist was reading a magazine.

Twilight waited for a moment then spoke up. "Um, excuse me? I think the mayor is expecting us."

The receptionist looked up, and almost fell out of her chair. "Princess Twilight!" she exclaimed. Her accent reminded Twilight of Pipsqueak's, and Bio Chem's actually, she wondered if the stallion's family was from Trottingham. "Um, of course, the mayor is in a meeting at the moment, but he told me to send you in as soon as you arrived."

She gestured down a hallway to the right. "His office is at the end of the hallway."

"Thanks you." Twilight said with a smile, Professor Juniper nodded to the mare and floated after Twilight, Spike followed them down the hallway.

As Twilight reached the door that lead to the mayor's office she heard strange sounds coming from behind the door, and what sounded like static in her head.

"Probably a Psychic-type trying to transmit something, either young or inexperienced judging by the static." Juniper said, setting up her own force field to stop the noise.

"If experience is a problem, then how come you can do that?" Spike asked.

Juniper smiled sheepishly. "Thing is, I'm at a bit of an advantage. Beheeyem are very powerful. I'm not a hundred percent sure on the exact rating but they're about the fourth or fifth most powerful non-legendary Psychic-type. I know Metagross and Alakazam are one and two, but I can't remember if Gardevoir was number three… or was it Meowstic?"

Twilight nodded, filed a few more questions away for later, and knocked on the door.

Immediately the noises stopped and few seconds later an older earth pony with a grey mane and a tan coat opened the door. _"If he had a bow tie he'd look like Mayor Mare as a stallion."_ Twilight thought with a smile.

"P-Princess Twilight," he stammered, his accent wasn't as pronounced as his receptionist's but it was still noticeable. "I didn't think you'd be here so soon, I'm ah, I'm meeting with some…" He sighed. "It'll be easier to show you." He moved to the side to let the Princess in.

Twilight entered the room and saw that there were four other beings already there. Two were sitting in chairs in front of the mayor's desk, one was a formidable looking bipedal creature that Twilight could only compare to some type of bird mixed with a human, assuming all humans resembled what Gene had looked like. It had feathers covering its entire body, except for its claws, which resembled a griffin's talons. Sitting next to it was another biped, this time similar to a fox, although it has the same feminine qualities Belle possessed, including a dress, it also had a red bandana wrapped around its head, looping it under the large tufts of fur that erupted from its ears.

The other two beings in the room were sitting on a couch in a corner of the room. They were both the same kind of Pokémon, and they didn't, in Twilight's opinion, differ that greatly from some of the predatory birds of Equestria, aside from the feathery crest that sprouted from their heads, their bright red tail feathers, and the fact that they seemed to be about the same size as a Pony. The larger of the two had some kind of dark purple scarf wrapped around its neck, although upon closer inspection it appeared to be the shredded remains of some kind of outfit.

"Hello," Twilight greeted them. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my friend Professor Juniper and my assistant Spike. We're–"

"Professor Juniper?!" The Delphox and one of the Pidgeots asked at the same time.

Twilight took a step back. "Yes, I'm guessing you've heard of her?"

"Wait," The Delphox looked at Twilight. "Can you understand us?"

Twilight blinked once then smiled. "Of course, Princess Celestia cast a translation spell on me, and you are?"

The Delphox stared at Twilight a moment longer, then smiled. "I'm May, and this is Blaziken."

Twilight thought for a moment. "So I'm guessing you used to be a human, right May?"

The Fox Pokémon looked at Twilight in disbelief. "Yeah… how do you-?"

"One of my friends explained it to her, and so did Arceus." Juniper answered.

May gulped. "A-Arceus? You actually met him?"

Twilight nodded. "Three times actually, he's a bit full of himself but he genuinely cares about his subjects, and that includes you." Twilight looked to the pair of Pidgeots on the couch. "And you two."

The Pidgeot who had spoken before smiled. "The names Falkner, Violet City Gym Leader, and this is my partner Pidgeot."

"Another human, that makes five so far," She turned to Juniper. "There are going to be a lot of these aren't there?"

"What? Former humans showing up? Probably." The Beheeyem knew at least four others who had known Gene's secret and kept it just that, as well as few colleagues, some students, and three trainers whom she knew very well.

"Um, Princess?" May chimed in. "I know what Arceus said yesterday but I'm still wondering, is Princess Celestia doing anything to, I don't know, fix this?"

The impatience in May's voice was clear, Twilight shifted awkwardly on her hooves. "Well, you see, the Princess is trying to convince Arceus to make the humans… human again, but when it comes to going back to Earth…" She bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry to say that it's next to impossible that you'll ever see Earth again."

May's jaw dropped. "But… I mean, that can't be right."

"Believe it," Juniper spoke up. "The Princess wouldn't even let Arceus take the Pokémon back to Earth if he could; it was something that Mewtwo showed her, I think."

"Plus, she wouldn't do that to Gene and Belle." Spike added.

"Who?" Falkner asked.

"Oh, Gene's one of the humans I mentioned, he and his… mate, Belle, are already planning their wedding and-"

"Wait, you mean… oh great, a Poképh-"

"Don't even start." Spike interrupted.

Twilight and May both gaped at him. "Spike," Twilight berated. "That's very rude, everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

Spike huffed. "But Twilight, you weren't there when Gene told us what happened, how they treated him and Belle."

Juniper's eyes widened. _"Twilight,"_She said mentally. _"Gene's mother called the police on him when he tried to invite her to his and Belle's wedding."_

Twilight's eyes went wide, but she didn't say anything.

"You know," Falkner suddenly chimed in. "I don't really think a new world is the place to be bringing up old societal views, especially ones that really don't apply anymore."

Twilight looked at him quizzically, then noticed he had one of his wings wrapped around Pidgeot, and how close they were to each other.

"…Wait, are you two… together?" Twilight asked, recently she had been applying what Cadence had taught her to the real world, in the way that she tried to figure out who was dating who in her free time.

Falkner cleared his throat. "As the Violet City Gym Leader, I am required to say that I find the very idea revolting beyond all measure," The lack of sincerity in his voice was painfully obvious. "But as a former human I'd like to say that there's no way I am ever giving up these wings and that Pidgeot knows me better than anyone else so…" He shrugged and snuggled closer to Pidgeot, who smiled contently.

Blaziken smirked. "So it's not just the odd trainer and freaks then."

May remained silent, but turned her head away from her partner.

Twilight got the feeling she had just touched on an uncomfortable subject. "Ok, moving on," She turned back to the mayor.

"I'm here to help Trottingham get acclimated, I guess, mostly just to check and make sure whatever attacked you-"

"An Aggron." Blaziken offered. "And don't worry, he's not coming back."

"It was amazing, Princess." The Mayor pushed into the room. "This huge metal dragon just starts rampaging through town and just when we think all is lost, these two," He pointed to May and Blaziken. "Show up and blast the thing with fire, it runs off like a foal, and that was two days ago."

"Right, Fire beats Steel." Twilight remembered.

"Is that why there are so many Pokémon around town?" Juniper asked. "Because of these two?"

The Mayor nodded. "Miss May explained the situation to us… well, she wrote out what had happened, with the humans and Pokémon."

"I can't use my Psychic powers very well yet." May slumped in her chair.

Blaziken put one hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry May, you'll get the hang of it." He said reassuringly. "You trained me, now it's my turn to help you."

May blushed softly as she looked at her Pokémon. She quickly looked away, causing Blaziken to sigh, as if he had been expecting that, and crossed his arms.

Twilight was beginning to piece together what was going on, but before she could say anything the receptionist burst into the room.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt but sir, they're at it again."

The mayor sighed. "This is the third time since yesterday." He looked guiltily to the Princess. "Your highness, I'm sorry to do this but I have to take care of some local business if you would-"

"Oh, it's not a problem," Twilight assured him, trotting out the door. "Princess Celestia has been teaching me what to do when it comes to these kind of situations."

The mayor's eyes went wide. "Your highness, I don't think that's such a good idea, you don't know-"

"Mayor, I appreciate the concern," Twilight said sincerely. "But I'm from Ponyville, I know how to deal with upset ponies."

Twilight pushed open the front door and was greeted by a small mob of ponies lead by a silver coated unicorn stallion with a bright blue, almost neon mane. A darker streak of sea blue ran the length of his mane and tail.

"Greetings, everypony," She used her magic to amplify her voice so she could talk over the crowd, not loud enough to startle anyone, but enough so that she could be heard. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here on a mission from Princess Celestia to help the town of Trottingham with the recent… issues, involving the Pokémon." Twilight still didn't really like the idea of ordering ponies around or being called "your highness", although she had more or less gotten used to that one, but she was more than happy to use her title to convince ponies that she could help them.

Several of the ponies in the crowd seemed to relax when she said this but soon tensed up again. "Princess, behind you." The stallion at the front said warningly.

Twilight turned and saw the Juniper and the other Pokémon had exited the building. Blaziken and May had extremely annoyed expressions on their faces.

The Alicorn turned back to the crowd in confusion. "What, the Pokémon? Don't worry, they're fine."

May walked up to her. "Princess, these guys, or more specifically him," The Delphox pointed to the unicorn at the front. "Have been harassing us, and the other Pokémon, since we got here."

Twilight nodded, then turned to the stallion. "What's your name, sir?"

"Hard Proof, your majesty." He said with a bow. Twilight leaned a bit and saw that his cutie mark was a research web, the kind that police used when connecting evidence, or the kind she used when she studied an obscure branch of something or other.

"Well, Mister Proof, would you please tell me what it is you are doing?" Twilight, unfortunately, had a pretty good idea.

"Certainly, we were coming to petition the mayor to have these creatures removed from our fair town." Twilight noticed he didn't have an accent, in fact he sounded like he would be more at home Ponyville than Trottingham or Canterlot.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you sir but the Pokémon aren't going anywhere," The stallions smile dropped to a frown. "As sapient beings they have just as much right to be here as anypony else."

"But one of them nearly destroyed the town!" Somepony shouted from the back of the crowd.

"But two of them stopped it!" An onlooker defended.

"And how long until they turn on us, hmm?" Hard Proof asked. "You've seen one monster you've seen 'em all. And I say they're all no good!"

"Yeah!" The crowd shouted in agreement.

"Oh, do shut up, Paranoia, would you?" A Pegasus mare, with a Taillow perched on her shoulder, asked in a rather condescending tone.

Hard Proof gritted his teeth. "What did you say, Serenity?" He practically growled.

Serenity rolled her eyes. "You heard me, Paranoia. Shut. Up. And stop mobbing the mayor about harming these creatures."

Hard Proof's face was twisted in rage. "Don't call me that."

Serenity smirked. "Call you what? Parano-"

Hard Proof charged the Pegasus. Serenity just flapped her wings and gracefully ascended until she was out of his reach.

"Get down here!" He shouted.

"No," Serenity said calmly. "Every time something like this happens, I have to explain it to the police," She smirked. "After I kick your sorry flank."

Hard Proof scowled and looked around, seeing the Pokémon, his scowl deepened. "Can't you see? These things are monsters! No better than the Tartarus spawn of the Everfree." He lit up his horn and, before anyone could react, fired an energy bolt straight at the ground near the Pokémon's feet. He didn't hit them, but he startled them enough to caused May to fall backwards.

Then the crowd that had come with him, cheered, while the other citizens cried in rage, then all Tartarus broke lose.

Twilight put up a force field as the two groups turned on each other. "What the heck is happening?!" She asked the mayor, panic in her voice.

He sighed. "Hard Proof, or Paranoia as he's often called, is an extremely temperamental stallion who has problems trusting anyone, especially anyone who isn't a pony, and Miss Serenity, or should I say Serenity Acceptance, is a member of the Equestrian Peace Corps, she just got back from a goodwill mission in the Dragonlands."

Twilight sighed. "Ok, I have a plan but I'm going to have to drop the force field."

The group nodded. Although Blaziken was eyeing Hard Proof, the stallion watching them through the force field.

And the Fire-type had good reason, as soon as the force field dropped, a bolt of blue energy flew from the unicorn's horn, and hit May square in the chest.

Hard Proof smiled, then frowned, then tried to run as Blaziken quickly closed the gap between them.

The stallion squirmed in the Fighting-Type's grip, fear plastered on his face.

"You shouldn't have done that." Blaziken hissed.

Twilight activated her magic and began shouting. "Everyone please! Just calm down! We can work this out, but please! Just stop fighting!"

The only pony who had really been fighting was Hard Proof, the rest of the ponies were in a very heated shouting match with each other, but fortunately, no real damage was being done, except for the fact that Blaziken might've been crushing Hard Proof's windpipe.

Twilight's begging did very little to calm the ponies, or the enraged Fire-Type, but she continued to try.

That's when Juniper got an idea. The professor looked down at her hands, and the tri colored lights that now adorned them, she recalled that Beheeyem could use these lights to hypnotize people and Pokémon.

Normally, Juniper wouldn't have considered doing what she did next but seeing her friend freaking out as she failed to calm the crowd, and seeing Blaziken still holding Hard Proof by his neck, she took action.

The Psychic-type floated above the crowd and position herself so she was facing down. She then tapped into the newer portions of her vastly expanded mind and found the information need to do what she was about to do.

"_Twilight, Spike, close your eyes!"_ She called to her friends.

Then she began, the lights on her hands flashed red, green and yellow in a rapid succession. Twilight saw this and put a force field around herself and the others, including a still unconscious May.

Juniper smiled as she felt the power building inside of her, growing stronger and stronger until it erupted form her hands in a blinding flash of light as she cried. "Psychic!"

When the light finally died down, so too did the arguing, all the ponies were now standing completely still, blinking occasionally.

Blaziken dropped Hard Proof and the stallion lied on the ground limply as the Blaze Pokémon shook his head, the other Pokémon caught in the blast did likewise.

Twilight dropped her force field and trotted over to Juniper as the Beheeyem floated back down. "What did you do?" She asked in amazement.

"I used my powers to, well, refresh their minds, kinda like turning a computer off and back on again." Juniper explained.

"That works?" Twilight had seen computers before; Bio Chem used them, and his were some of the only ones in Canterlot, if not Equestria.

"Apparently." Juniper sighed in relief. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna pass out." The Beheeyem fainted and nearly hit the ground before Twilight caught her.

Twilight looked around and saw that everypony was slowly coming out of their pause, and that Blaziken was no longer choking Hard Proof, instead the Fire-type was kneeled over his trainer, who was beginning to come around, supporting her with one arm as he stroked her forehead with the other, and that Hard Proof was slowly standing himself up.

Before the Unicorn could do anything Twilight marched over to him, dragging the mayor with her. "Hard Proof," Twilight's voice was the voice of one who had been pushed from a very good mood to a very bad mood in a very short amount of time.

Then Twilight said something she had never even thought she would have to say. "You're under arrest for assault and disturbing the peace."

The stallion's eyes dropped and moaned under his breath. "Again?"


	21. Chapter 19

Twilight was pacing back and forth in the mayor's office. "This is bad, this is so, so bad."

Spike sighed, the Dragon was holding an ice pack to Professor Juniper's head. "Calm down Twi, I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Not that bad!" Twilight shouted. "Spike I arrested a stallion under false pretenses."

"False what now?" He asked.

"It means I arrested him for something he didn't do." Twilight explained.

Spike thought for a second. "Let's see, angry mob, attacked someone, nope, I don't see how you're in the wrong."

Twilight groaned. "I arrested him for assault, but technically a... what's May?"

"Delphox." Juniper mumbled, still rubbing her aching head.

Twilight nodded. "A Delphox isn't protected under Equestrian laws, it'd be like if I went into the Everfree and started blasting Timberwolves or Manticores for no reason, not really approved of but not technically illegal."

Spike shrugged. "Come on Twi, you're a Princess, I'm sure no one's gonna care about some little detail like that."

Twilight shook her head. "Spike, just because I'm a Princess doesn't mean I'm above the law."

"But you do make them... right?" Juniper asked groggily.

"Well... I suppose so, but why does that matter?"

"Because," Juniper pushed herself back into the air, groaning slightly. "You can just send a letter to Princess Celestia explaining the situation and have her pass a law that will give Pokémon some form of protection. We had them back on earth to stop cruelty towards Pokémon, among other things."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Juniper... that just might work, Spike take a letter."

* * *

Princess Celestia was... having a bad day had come and gone several times in the past three days, as had annoyed and just pissed off, at this point Celestia was intrigued to find that she was in a state of perpetually expecting the worst possible thing to happen.

"It honestly hadn't been this bad since Discord's rule." She admitted, Celestia had opened day court for the first time since the Pokémon's arrival, and had almost immediately regretted it. While the Eternal Sundial had calmed the populous a considerable amount, they still had questions, and many still wanted the Pokémon gone.

Fortunately the more... outspoken ponies had been curtailed in their complaints by the fact the Aegislash floated at Celestia's side and that Ninetales sat by the foot of her throne.

But as soon as Celestia thought everything was beginning to look up, Twilight sent her a message, it explained the situation in Trottingham and stressed that she was had run into some legal trouble since the Pokémon weren't technically protected under Equestrian equal rights law.

Once she had received the letter the solar Princess had ended day court and rushed to find her most trusted advisors in Equestrian law, she had retrieved Luna from her room, wondering why her sister seemed more tired than usual and brought her to the meeting room, where she had found a fair number of Equestrian officials already waiting, Celestia had only called them because it was an actual law she had passed after Nightmare Moon's banishment that she couldn't make a decision without input from an outside party.

This law had not accounted for Luna's return, or Discord's reformation, or even Cadence and Twilight's ascension. This meant that as long as Luna, Twilight, Cadence or Discord were present, then Celestia could pass just about any law that wasn't so ridiculously outlandish as to upset one of the others, and even for Discord Celestia had to try something pretty stupid for him to deny it, he might have had his grudges but the chaos lord hated politics far more than Celestia, and he loved messing with nobles.

Among the assembled beings were Olive Branch, head of the judicial system, Peace Treaty, head of international affairs, Arcane Glyph, the headmistress of Princess Celestia's School for gifted Unicorns, and a great many other ponies who had some standing in Equestria's government. Missing was Prince Blueblood, for whatever reason Celestia chose _not_ to look into that.

In addition there was one non pony present. Lord Mewtwo, ambassador to the Pokémon nation, sat in the chair next to the Princesses, to the horror of all those assembled save for the Princesses, and was basically unnerving almost everypony in the room.

"Thank you all for coming," Celestia began. "Now I don't have the time to beat round the bush so I'll get straight to the point of this meeting."

Everypony leaned in closer, except for Mewtwo. Celestia sighed. "I am considering passing a law that would give Pokémon the same protection given to all other sapient beings in the land of Equestria."

The council erupted in an uproar. _**"Silence!"**_ Luna shouted in the royal Canterlot voice. The council did as it was told, Celestia smiled, having Luna at her side always made these meetings easier, in more ways than one.

Celestia continued. "In light of recent events, and several meetings with Lord Arceus, I have decided that it is illogical to presume the Pokémon will disappear any time soon, thus we must begin to integrate them into Equestria, and that includes the giving them some form of rights."

"But Princess," Olive Branch began. "Legally speaking these creatures can't be-"

Mewtwo, sensing the stallion's train of thought, spoke up. _"Chose your next words very carefully."_ He warned.

The menacing tone stopped the stallion. "W-what I mean is, the populous might not immediately believe that all the Pokémon are sapient."

Peace Treaty looked to the stallion. "After a cosmic being announced to every creature on the planet that they were?" She asked in confusion. "I don't think anyone is that oblivious."

"I agree with Peace Treaty," Golden Bit, head of the treasury department chimed in. "I have to deal with the most stuck up, ignorant ponies in my line of work, and even they know that something big is happening."

Tactical Support, the new captain of the royal guard, spoke up. "But we know that some of these creatures are dangerous, what if they attack somepony?"

"The law that will protect the Pokémon will be the same that protects Ponies, Griffins and other beings, if they attack someone, then the legal repercussions will be the same." Celestia explained.

"I don't think this is the best idea your highness," Silvermane, head of Equine services said. "These creatures are clearly not as advanced as Ponies, and we shouldn't allow some of their more powerful members to bully us into submission."

Several of the assembled ponies mumbled in agreement, while the others rolled the eyes or scoffed, Mewtwo glared at the stallion and practiced some breathing techniques.

"Really now?" Arcane Glyph spoke up. "Because a... colleague, of mine has done brain scans of several of these Pokémon, all of them are quite clearly indicative of being sapient."

Silvermane chuckled. "I suppose you're referring to that stallion you have teaching genetics at your school... Bio Chem wasn't it?"

Arcane Glyph glared at him. "That's right, but I don't see why it matters who performed the scans, and he's not the only one."

"She's right you know." Doctor Helping Hoof, head of the health department added. "I've been getting scans and test results regarding these creatures for the past three days and the brain scans always show sapience."

Luna was about to add something when Silvermane spoke up again. "Yes, but sapience does not necessarily mean advancement, look at the Dragons, or the scattered Chimera, the Pokémon are basically the same, little more than advanced anim..."

The stallion suddenly stopped, noticing that no one else in the room was moving, even the Princesses had frozen, save for their ever flowing manes. "What's going on?" He asked aloud, then Mewtwo rose from his chair.

Celestia blinked as Silvermane suddenly stopped talking. "Is everything alright?" She asked, noticing the fear on his face.

The stallion's eyes widened. "Everything's f-fine Princess, I just didn't find it... necessary to go any farther as, umm, the evidence is stacked against me?" His eyes darted to Mewtwo for a split second, almost too fast for the Princess to see. "Yes, and I have already been disproven so... I withdraw my argument."

Celestia glanced at Mewtwo, the Pokémon wore the same stoic expression he normally had.

"Alright, then I believe it is about time to end this, who will support me in passing the law to allow equal rights to Pokémon?"

As was expected, Luna, Mewtwo, Peace Treaty and several other all raised their hooves, or hands. Surprisingly, Silvermane's hoof shot up before the Princess had even finished her sentence.

"Then it is settled, I will make the announcement later today once the new law is finished, you are all dismissed." With that the ponies all made for the door, Silvermane galloping out ahead of the rest. "Mewtwo?" Celestia said. "Please stay behind, I'd like to have a word in private."

The Genetic Pokémon remained seated, as if he had known this was coming.

"Sister," Luna pulled Celestia aside. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing Luna," Celestia assured her. "I'm just going to have a word with our ambassador."

Luna examined her sister for a second, then said. "Be careful sister, we know not what he is capable of." Before exiting the room, but remaining close by in case anything went wrong.

Celestia pushed the doors shut with her magic and turned to Mewtwo. "What did you do?" She asked, sounding slightly angry.

Mewtwo smirked. _"I've done nothing wrong Princess."_ He assured her.

"Oh, then Silvermane, the stallion who never admits defeat, and always puts his own thoughts ahead of everyone else's just decided that he couldn't win? I don't believe it." Celestia didn't know what the Psychic-Type had done but she wasn't going to let it slide.

Mewtwo rose from his chair. _"Princess Celestia... I've honestly done nothing wrong, surely if I had done anything to change the memories of those in the room, or temporarily shut down their mental functions, so that I could have a word with mister Silvermane, your own mental wards would have stopped me from doing the same to you?"_

Celestia gritted her teeth, she knew Mewtwo was powerful enough to bypass her and Luna's mental wards but had no idea to what extent. She knew Mewtwo had done something, but she couldn't prove it, and since whatever it was it hadn't done any real harm she basically had her hooves tied.

Celestia looked Mewtwo straight in the eyes. "I'm going to let this one go, if only because I didn't feel like dealing with Silvermane today, but mark my words, if something like this happens again, then I will not hesitate to reveal my full power." She smiled. "And _you_, while powerful, are most definitely _not_ a God."

Mewtwo chuckled. _"Very well Princess, you have my word,"_ He made for the door. _"And Lord Arceus will probably be showing up soon, he'll know about this law soon enough and he'll want a hand, or hoof, in writing it."_

Mewtwo mentally shoved the doors open and left, passing Luna on his way out.

"Well sister? How did it go?" The lunar Princess asked.

Celestia rubbed her temple with a hoof, then took it away with a smile. "Luna, alert the staff, we're about to have a _very_ important guest."

* * *

Arceus stepped through the door that led to Canterlot, and was surprised to find two royal guardsmen standing on either side of the door.

"_Greetings... I'm here to see the Princess."_

"The Princess is in the meeting room... she's expecting you." One of them began walking down the hall in the direction of the meeting room but Arceus stopped him.

"_No need, I know the way."_ Before either of the stallions could say anything, Arceus vanished in a flash of golden light, and reappearing in the meeting room in front of Princess Celestia.

"Greeting Lord Arceus." She greeted, not even looking up from the scroll she was writing on.

"_Hello Princess, you were expecting me?"_

"Yes," She replied calmly. "Mewtwo warned me that you'd be coming to help with the new law."

Arceus chuckled. _"Fair enough, now what have you gotten down so far?"_

Celestia smiled. "Oh, I haven't done _anything_ yet, I figured the responsible party should be present before I began."

"_Oh, quite right Princess, now let me see that."_ He pulled the scroll over to him, the completely blank scroll. _"Right..."_

"_How do I start this?"_ He thought to himself, it wasn't that Arceus didn't have experience in lawmaking, he had shaped time, space and nature, he had hoof wrote the laws of physics and nature with the help of his sons and daughter, but he had never interfered in mortal laws. True, his presence shaped the laws of man when they worshipped him, but after his imprisonment he had no influence on what the humans did.

Arceus sighed and floated the scroll back to Celestia _"... Why don't you get it started, I wouldn't want to interfere with your legal system too much."_

Celestia smiled, it seemed she had found something in which she outranked Arceus. "Very well," Celestia started writing out pre planned lines on the scroll. "Now I want to give the Pokémon the same protection the other races of Equus have, but the problem I'm facing is that some ponies still see them as monsters."

Despite himself, Arceus chuckled. "What about that is funny?" Celestia asked, unamused.

"_I just forgot how much other races put into imagery."_ The truth was that Arceus knew it was going to be a lot of work getting the Pokémon accepted by the races of Equus, especially ones like Gyarados or Metagross.

"_For instance,"_ Arceus concentrated for a moment and a screen appeared in front of Celestia, one showing Rayquaza, Groudon, Reshiram, Yveltal, Entei, and Darkrai. _"These are all members of the Legendary Council."_

Celestia sighed. "Sometimes I feel like you're making this harder than it has to be." When Arceus didn't answer she continued. "Look, the Pokémon are intelligent, but not everypony is going to believe that, isn't there anything you can do to help the integration?"

Arceus thought for a minute, then pulled a golden panel out of nowhere. _"Let's see... no, no, that's all kinds of illegal..."_

Celestia put down the finished rough draft of the law and looked at Arceus. "What are you doing?"

"_Looking over my options, I'd need the council for that one, or at least my daughters."_ Arceus dropped the panel. _"I'll figure something out, how's the law coming along?"_

Celestia glared at him. "Finished and don't give me that, if you really are a god,"

"_Do I need to prove it again?"_

Celestia gritted her teeth. "Then you'll be able to come up with a simple plan."

Arceus thought for a moment. _"I could turn the ponies-"_

"No."

"_Psychic rew-"_

"Don't even think about it."

Arceus glared at her. _"Well what do you propose?"_

A sly grin crept onto Celestia's face. "I'll think of something, now come with me, there's something I'd like you to see."

Arceus raised an eyebrow. _"No way am I going anywhere unless you-"_

Celestia lit up her horn and before Arceus could react, teleported them both.

"_-Tell me, what, you're, planning."_ Arceus found himself standing in the castle garden, in front of a dining table that had been set up there, the entire are looked like it was regularly used for parties, or he guessed, based on the thirty or so Ponies staring at him, including a smirking Princess Luna.

"Lord Arceus," Celestia said with a smirk. "Meet the nobles of Canterlot."

Arceus eyed the ponies at the table, other than Princess Luna he didn't recognize any of them, but he knew the type, he had been studying Canterlot government.

"_What is this?"_ He asked, staring down at Princess Celestia.

"Well I figured that if you were going to stay here you'd like to get to know the public, I took the liberty of drawing up a schedule." Celestia unrolled a scroll that nearly reached the ground.

"_... What makes you think I'll stay here? I can leave at literally any time I want."_ Arceus did not like dealing with nobles of any species.

Celestia smiled. "Oh, I know that, but I figured you would like to show some... appreciation, to the mare who's standing up for your subjects rights."

Arceus turned to the Princess, but said nothing, when he finally spoke he sighed and said. _"Good show Princess, I'll play your little game, for now."_

Arceus pulled out one of the seat at the front of the table, everypony was still staring at Arceus, mouths agape. Arceus leaned over to Luna. _"Do I say something or... what?"_

"Just introduce yourself," Luna said through a rehearsed smile. "Try and get on their good side, you know, be social."

Arceus sighed. _"I've been by myself in a space of infinite emptiness for the past several thousand years, my social skills are about as well exercised as a Snorlax."_

"What?"

"_I'm a God as old as time, I don't often socialize with mortals."_ Arceus snapped.

"Well try." Celestia shot back.

The three immortals smiled at the nobles, the turned awkwardly to the food that had been set before them.

"_This meal looks delicious Princess."_ Arceus, casually picked a fork and shot her a look. _"Too bad I can't eat anything."_

Celestia and Luna turned away from the god. "Told you." Luna whispered.

While the others ate, Arceus turned his attention to the nobles, most of whom were too nervous to eat._"Wonderful city, Canterlot."_ Arceus said absently. _"Although I haven't had much time to explore it,"_ He twiddled the fork in his telekinetic grasp. _"Been helping my family settle in."_

The Alpha Pokémon's attempts at conversation were met with less than stellar responses, they mostly unnerved the gathered ponies.

After another ten minutes or so the silence was still present and Arceus found himself wishing that Mewtwo were there, or anyone else.

Arceus was also incredibly annoyed that the staff continued to serve him food, even though he couldn't eat anything, as it was, Arceus was considering if he could grow a mouth when somepony finally spoke up, although they weren't at the table.

"Sorry I'm late everypony," Prince Blueblood said as he trotted up to the table. "I was held up by these dreadful ponies in the medical wing and I couldn't get away."

Blueblood pulled up an empty chair and smiled. "Anyhow, as I was saying..."

Blueblood saw Arceus and the stallions eyes widened in fear. "M, m, m, m, m, ..., ..., ...! ...?"

Arceus twirled a straw around in his glass as the nobles and both Princesses stared at Blueblood.

Luna turned to Arceus. "Did you do something?" She asked, no malice behind her voice, only curiosity.

"_No... maybe, so I may have disabled his vocal cords, even I know how irritating he can be so I may have taken a few precautions."_

"...! ...?!" Blueblood continued to futilely try and say anything.

Luna smiled. "Sister, I think I like this Blueblood, can we keep him?"

Celestia tapped her chin. "Tempting, but I think- Oh would you look at the time." Celestia looked at the sun. "Arceus, we're late for your next appointment, I'm sorry everypony but we must be off."

"...! ...!" Blueblood flailed his hooves wildly.

Celestia smiled and waved at the stallion. "Goodbye Blueblood, come along Arceus, Luna."

In a flash of gold the immortals disappeared, leaving the still mute stallion and the rest of the nobles alone.

* * *

Two Alicorns and a god flashed into existence in front of a multistoried building, they glanced at each other for a moment, the Luna burst out laughing, followed by her sister and finally Arceus.

"I cannot believe you did that!" Celestia cried, still laughing.

"_I can't believe you hadn't tried that already."_ Arceus replied.

"Twas most amusing indeed, now where are we?" It took Luna a moment to recognize the area, but once she did she smiled.

"This is step two in my plan to introduce Arceus to the public." Celestia replied, turning to the god with a smile.

"_No more nobles."_ Arceus stated. _"And where are we?"_

Celestia turned and walked towards the building. "I find the best way to get to know the public, and get on their good side, is to show them compassion."

Celestia pushed the doors to Princess Cadence Memorial Hospital and beckoned Arceus after her.

The Alpha Pokémon was forced to duck under the door. And found himself to be, once again, the center of attention in the waiting room.

"_Hello."_ He greeted them all casually.

Princess Celestia ignored her subjects shocked looks and walked up to the main desk. "Greetings Nurse Lovejoy, I set up a tour for a visiting dignitary earlier today."

Nurse Lovejoy, who was use to Princess Celestia's visits, just glanced at the god, who was shifting awkwardly under the eyes of the few dozen ponies in the room.

"Always glad to have you Princess."

Celestia walked back over to Arceus and her sister. "Come on you two."

Celestia led them down a hallway and up a few flights of stairs, the later led to Arceus complaining about something called an elevator, until they reached their destination.

"Luna, you know where we are, but Arceus, this is the children's ward." Celestia pushed the door open and revealed the floor to Arceus.

As the trio stepped into the room a large majority of the ponies on the floor turned and gawked at the god.

Celestia stepped forward and smiled. "Hello everypony, this is Lord Arceus."

The Alpha Pokémon bowed his head. _"Charmed."_

"I invited him here so he could get to know the public, please, don't mind us."

The hospital staff bowed, the Princesses were in here often enough that they had gotten used to it, although a God was new.

Celestia walked back over to Arceus. "Now that that's taken care of, why don't you two go mingle."

"_A God does not mingle."_ Arceus stated.

"As long as you're here, you do." Celestia told him, the look on her face implied just how serious she was. "You wanted my help? Well, this is how I'm gonna do it."

Arceus quickly glanced at the time stream, just to assure himself he couldn't get out of this, and sighed._"Fine."_

Arceus stepped around the Princess, who now wore a smirk on her face, and started to explore the floor.

"Tia, are you sure this is a good idea?" Luna asked.

Celestia just smiled. "Don't worry, he won't do anything stupid, now come along, let us go brighten up some foals day."

Arceus rounded a corner, grumbling to himself. _"A hospital, bah, I prefer those Pokémon centers,"_ The Alpha Pokémon pushed one of the doors open. _"I wonder where all those Joys got to anyway, I know I brought some with me."_

It was then that Arceus realized that he was being watched, watched by many sets of small, curious eyes.

"_Oh... hello there."_ Arceus greeted the few dozen foals who were scattered around the room he had walked into. _"Didn't mean to... disturb you."_

One of the little fillies, a yellow Pegasus with a green mane, walked up to him and stared at him, wide eyed. "Awe you a Pwincess?"

Arceus leaned down to the little filly. _"Little one, I am not a Princess, not only am I a male, I am a transdimensional deity who is responsible for the creation of an entire universe, does that sound like the work of a Princess?"_

The little filly tapped her chin, then smiled. "Uh huh."

Arceus chuckled and stood back up. _"Greetings children, I am Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokémon realm, and the reason the Pokémon are currently residents of Equus."_

That brought forth a lot of questions, most of which made Arceus smile, however after a while the Arceus excused himself and decided to do a more one on one thing. As the Alpha Pokémon entered one of the adjoining rooms he was greeted by a nurse checking up on a young Earth Pony colt.

"_What's wrong with him?"_ Arceus asked the nurse, the colt was hooked up to several different machines, and was fast asleep.

The nurse sighed. "He has a tumor in his brain, and even our best surgeons say that removing it would likely cost him his life," The nurse looked away from the young foal. "At this point, we're just trying to make him comfortable until..." She bit her lip.

Arceus raised an eyebrow and stepped past the nurse, the staff had been alerted to the Gods presence so they wouldn't worry unnecessarily.

Once he was past the nurse he raised his vision a few levels until he was in the x-ray range and he examined the colt, sure enough he had an abnormally large growth wrapped through several portions of his brain.

Arceus frowned. _"No one this young deserves to suffer like this."_

"I know but it's not like we can do anything about it." The nurse frowned. "I wish there was but..."

As the nurse continued Arceus blocked her out, and began channeling his powers, the Gods eyes glowed golden and his consciousness expanded across the room, into the colt, and through time and space, then he shifted it.

* * *

"I'm curious sister, just how do you lose a God?"

"Shut up Luna."

The Lunar Princess smirked as her distressed sister continued to search for Arceus who, somehow or another, had managed to evade them thus far.

"Maybe he left." Luna ventured. "He can teleport."

"No Luna, he's still here, I'm sure, Arceus may not like it all that much, but he needs our help, and he's knows that if he-"

"Princess!"

Both Alicorns turned and saw a doctor running towards them, a smile on his face. "You have to come see this, it's... I don't even know."

The stallion led the Princesses to another section of the hospital, the intensive care unit.

"Normally, I'd warn you just how gruesome what you're about to see is,"

"But?" Luna asked.

The doctor smiled. "But... you'll see." As he pushed open the door Celestia and Luna saw something that almost shocked them, almost.

"Well sister," Luna said with a smile. "It seems we have finally found Arceus."

Sure enough Arceus was in the ICU, surrounded by several dozen ponies, patients, nurses and doctors alike.

"Arceus," Celestia stepped forward. "What are you doing?"

Arceus looked up from a young mare in a wheelchair and turned to the Princesses. _"Ah, hello Celestia, Luna. you're just in time."_

"In time for what exactly? And what have you been up to?" Celestia asked.

Arceus smiled. _"You'll see,"_ The Alpha Pokémon turned back to the mare. _"Now hold still young one, this will only take a moment."_

Arceus' eyes began to glow gold, and Celestia sensed a large amount of power coming from Arceus. Then flow into the mare.

Once the power flow ceased and Arceus pulled away from the mare he said. _"Now get up."_

Slowly, and with a not a small amount of hesitation, the mare rose from her wheelchair. "I... I can walk!"

Arceus chuckled. _"Of course you can, if I can bend time and space to my whim, then I can easily fix a mortal's ailment."_

"But her spine," One of the doctors began.

"_Is now completely repaired,"_ Arceus answered. _"Honestly don't act so surprised, I pulled out a colt's tumor earlier,"_ Arceus thought for a second, then corrected himself. _"Actually I shifted time and space around the... oh you get the idea."_

Arceus walked through the crowd and over to the Princesses. "This is what you've been up to?" Luna asked in awe.

"But... doing this..." Celestia deadpanned. "It would tax even us, and,"

"_And the main reason you can't is because you can't do it for everyone in the country, I on the other hoof, am attempting to find a veritable army of nurses who'll be able to heal most ailments with their own... medication and powers, and will alert me for the cases they can't fix."_ Arceus had seen such ailments such as these on Earth and, before his banishment, the ailing would have been brought to a temple for healing, Mew was an expert in childbirth, Meloetta's Heal Bell could cure almost anything, Mewtwo or the Lake Trio were more than capable of rewriting mental illnesses and Cresselia was well versed in curing nightmares, as well as more... emotional ailments.

"But you cannot possible be there for everypony, every time." Luna argued.

Arceus shrugged. _"True, but I can split myself into multiple portions of myself, similar to how you handle the dreamscape."_

Celestia and Luna gawked at the God. "You... I just," The solar Alicorn took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "I guess you're doing the right thing here Arceus... so why does it feel like you're taking the easy way out."

Luna examined Arceus closely. "Mayhaps because his powers allow him to perform quote, unquote, miracles."

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"First off, they are miracles, secondly, and I tire of repeating myself, I created an entire universe, compared to that, even creating life is child's play, let alone fixing some minor injuries and ailments."_

Celestia was about to say something about but Arceus interrupted her. _"And before you say it I'd like to point out that not only are my Pokémon much more durable than your ponies, but that as a God even a wound that might kill either of you likely wouldn't do the same to me."_ Truthfully Arceus had never really considered his own death a possibility, he was born before time, and he expected to outlast it, regardless of which dimension he lived in.

"Arceus... I really don't know what to say." Celestia in no way wanted to stop the God from doing good, especially since it had kinda been her idea, but she still felt like something was... not wrong but... off, in the way in which he went about it. "Just..." She saw the hospital staff eyeing her and Arceus. "Can you finish this up?" She whispered.

"_Of course Princess, just a moment."_ Arceus concentrated and pulled the Mind Plate from his dimension. _"Work Up,"_ Arceus whispered, boosting his attack. _"Heal Pulse."_

The Alpha Pokémon pumped a lot more power into the healing wave than any normal Pokémon could. The strengthened attack rushed throughout the hospital, seeping into every Pony in the building. _"My work here is done, thank you Princess Celestia, this was... enlightening."_

The Pokémon God disappeared in his signature golden flash, leaving the Princesses to deal with the Ponies.

"Tia?" Luna asked, looking around at the slightly shocked and still smiling ponies. "Did Arceus actually do the right thing this time?"

Celestia looked at the mare Arceus had healed, she was trotting shakily around the room, tears of joy rolling down her face. "I think so Luna," Celestia answered, a tear of her own falling to the ground. "I really think so."


	22. Chapter 20

"Uhh… Gene, are you sure this is gonna work?" Applejack asked as the Gallade finished tying down the Steelix. The Steel-type was being held down by a combination of chains, ropes – mostly lassos – and Belle's psychic power.

While the force being used to keep the Steelix contained was a fair amount, most of the beings present feared it wouldn't be enough, which was why Fang and Draco were standing nearby in case anything needed to be burned or smashed.

"Well," He began. "No, I actually have no idea what's going to happen."

"That ain't very reassuring." Applejack said with a frown.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can here, if you have a different plan to hold the giant thirty foot steel snake. I'll be happy to hear it."

Applejack remained silent.

"Alright," Gene sighed as he finished shoving the last stake into the ground. "I think that's about it."

"Great," Applejack trotted over to Gene. "Now we just have to wait for it to wake up."

"Or we could knock." Gene walked up to the Steelix's head, and knocked twice against the skull, it echoed slightly as he did but nothing else happened.

"Well, that was completely pointless." Belle said. "Now what?"

Gene looked around. Sheriff Silverstar, Braeburn, and Little Strongheart had gone back to town in case anything went wrong.

"I don't know," Gene answered. "I thought he'd wake up by now."

"Ya know, ah get ya'll are surprisingly durable or whatever, but ya did throw him twenty feet straight up."

Gene shrugged. "It's a Steel and Ground-Type, it really should've-"

"Grahhh!"

"Never mind." The Steelix tried to push itself up, only to be stopped by the chains that wrapped around its body and Belle's psychic strength.

"What in the…" He saw Gene and the others standing in front of him. "Why you little-"

"Oh just save it." Fang snapped. "Or do we have to teach you a little thing or two about respect?"

"Heel, boy." Gene said jokingly.

The Steelix raised an eyebrow at this. "Who are you, Gallade who commands these Pokémon?"

Gene sighed. "That's a long story, but it involves Arceus and humanity."

The Steelix made rumbled nervously. "Lord Arceus? You have met the creator?"

"Yes," Belle answered. "A few times now, actually; which reminds me, you heard his announcement didn't you?"

"Little Gardevoir, I do not believe there is a being on this planet who did not hear Lord Arceus' voice."

"Then why were you trying to attack us?" Applejack asked. "You came at me and my cousin and then made towards town like one big disaster."

Steelix rumbled in annoyance. "I was... upset, enraged, I have lived in my mountain for over two hundred years and now..." The Steel-Type looked at his surrondings in disdain. "I hate the desert, it does horrible things to my skin's luster."

Applejack turned to Gene and Belle. "Ah'm confused, what's he whinin' 'bout?"

"He doesn't like the desert," Gene restated. "And he's upset at being pulled from his long time home."

Steelix raised an eyebrow. "Just who are you, strange Gallade? You are not like any Pokémon I have encountered before, and I am over two hundred years old."

Gene rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, ya see… look, that doesn't matter right now, what's important is that you don't attack the ponies, or buffalo, or anyone else really."

Steelix grumbled. "I will leave this place, the mountains are my home, but only once you explain why these Pokémon obey you."

Gene sighed. "Fine, Draco and Fang listen to me because I'm their Trainer, or was their Trainer? I don't know, Arceus brought a bunch of the 'pure' humans when he brought the Pokémon here. That's what he meant when he was talking about those who were kind and good despite all the old world threw at them." Gene didn't think he would ever feel comfortable talking about his humanity, or how he had chosen not to try and regain it.

Steelix was silent for a moment, then he rumbled. "Let me up."

Belle looked to Gene, who nodded, and released her psychic hold, once she did it took about five seconds for Steelix to dislodge or snap all the ropes and chains. As the Steel-Type reared to his full height he looked down at Gene and the others once more, before launching forward into the ground and shooting off towards the distant mountains.

"Huh," Applejack stared at the hole the Steelix had made. "Fer some reason ah thought that was goin' ta be a lot more difficult… and violent."

Belle shrugged. "Even the most monstrous can be negotiated with, or most of them at least."

"Ah guess so," Applejack conceded. "Now what? Next train back home ain't 'til tomorrow."

"Then I guess we're staying in town tonight." Gene said as he began walking towards town. "Come on, let's hope the sheriff explained what's going on."

Belle quickly caught up with her mate, once she did she clasped his hand in hers and smiled. For whatever reason, Gene had been in a very positive mood since they got off the train, and, since their emotions often leaked across their bond, Belle was likewise in a good mood. "Poké for your thoughts." She said sweetly.

"Just how long have those two been together?" Applejack asked Fang, walking behind the pair.

Fang grinned. "Almost ten years now, and they've been mates for six."

Applejack watched as the two talked, smiling and laughing. "You mind if ah ask you two somethin'?" Applejack turned to Fang and Draco, the Houndoom plodding alongside her and the Flygon hovering just over head.

"Sure," Draco answered. "What is it?"

Applejack looked back to Belle and Gene again. "Ah know how most humans feel 'bout their relationship, but Ah'm a might curious of what ya'll think."

Draco smiled. "I couldn't be happier for them." He looked to Applejack. "I consider Gene my hatch-mate, as I had none before, in human terms that's a... brother, and I'll protect him and Belle no matter what."

"Same here." Fang answered. "Minus the hatch-mate thing, most Pokémon don't see a problem when a human and Pokémon become mates, we don't put that much emphasis on species."

Applejack nodded. "Then why were the humans so against it? Did ya'll really have that little say?"

The Pokémon's moods visibly darkened. "Psychic Pokémon are a little luckier than the rest," Draco admitted. "Telepathy at least lets them prove they're intelligent, although as I'm sure you've been told that wouldn't matter in their case." The Dragon Pokémon gestured to Belle and Gene.

"But for most Pokémon," Fang continued. "Pokémon had pretty much no say whatsoever, and very limited equal rights." Fang grumbled the last part. As a Dark-type, he had experienced just how cruel the world could be, until Gene found him.

"The humans started the whole… Poképhilia thing, the hatred towards it, after some incident in the Kalos region a few thousand years ago." Draco said.

"What happened?" Applejack inquired.

"The short version?" Fang said. "Some king loved his Floette so much that when she died he built a machine to bring her back to life, that machine drained the life force of a good percentage of that region's Pokémon and…" Fang sighed. "The Kalosians connected that to the king's love for his Floette. You can probably guess where things went from there."

"It's stupid." Draco huffed. "Gene was nearly inconsolable after those police crashed his wedding."

"And Belle was even worse." Fang added.

"Wow," Applejack said, impressed. "You two certainly know a lot 'bout this."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Blame Mage, she's the one interested in all of this."

"Who now?" Applejack asked.

"Mage is another member of our team," Fang explained. "She's into history and magic and all of that."

As Applejack asked the Pokémon a few more questions, Belle and Gene were having a conversation of their own. "Gene… you're really ready for that?" Belle asked, her heart filling with joy.

Gene nodded. "Hey, we're staying here, and I'm staying like this. Plus…" He smiled at her. "I love you and after our wedding–"

Belle silenced him by pulling him into a kiss. _"I get it,"_ She said. _"And I'm looking forward to it, all of it, as long as you're by my side."_

Gene broke the kiss and smiled at her. "Always."

Scootaloo hummed the Crusader's tune to herself as she stapled one of Pinkie's invitations to a tree. The little Pegasus had just given an invitation to Zecora, and a… Pokémon, that was staying with her, and, since she had passed out or hung up invitations all over town, she was now hanging up a few in the Everfree, so any Pokémon there could see them.

Scootaloo had originally been mildly scared of going into the Everfree, even if the path to Zecora's was relatively safe during the day, but once she had seen the state of the forest, she became less sure.

It looked like the woods themselves were at war. Trees would slowly, almost too slowly to see, change shape, either twisted, gnarled trunks, or straight, proud and tall. Prickly vines crept on to the path, only to wither and die.

Zecora had said it was most likely due to the explosion the other day, which she said released both chaotic and orderic energy in great quantities.

As Scootaloo finished hanging one of the invitations she turned back to her scooter and prepared to take off, then she heard buzzing. It sounded like a giant bee's wings, and for a moment Scootaloo thought it would be one of the Pokémon from Sweet Apple Acres, once she turned around, her heart dropped.

Standing on the path, looking at the invitation, was a bipedal creature that looked vaguely like a cross between a praying mantis and a lobster. It was rust red and its exoskeleton shined like polished steel, a pair of translucent blue wings sprouted from plates on its back and a three point crest topped its head. But what really drew Scootaloo's attention were its claws. The sharp, lobster-like claws were made all the more eerie by the yellow markings on both sides, making them look like the mouths of some creature.

And it was reading the invitation. Scootaloo gulped and stepped backwards, trying to make it to her scooter before-

_Snap!_

Scootaloo froze as she stepped on a twig, the Scizor looked up and then turned around. "Scizor?"

"Aahhhh!" Scootaloo jumped on to her scooter and rocketed off, leaving a very confused Bug-type by itself. The Pincer Pokémon just shrugged and turned back to the invitation.

Scootaloo, now a safe distance down the path, had stopped riding and was panting as she leaned on a tree. "What was that?" She asked herself.

When no one answered Scootaloo just sighed and grabbed another invitation from her cart, she walked over to a small tree just on the side of the road. Scootaloo pulled off a piece of tape and stuck it to the paper, then attached it to the tree. The filly took a second to make sure the invite was secure, then she nodded and hopped back on her scooter, heading further back towards Ponyville.

Once Scootaloo had vanished from sight, the tree opened one of its eyes. "Sudo?" The Sudowoodo looked down at the paper that had been taped to its chest, then smiled as it headed off to spread the news. "Sudowoodo!"

Once more Scootaloo had stopped and was hanging up one of the last invitations, she figured she could just post the last few around Ponyville, then she heard the crying.

Scootaloo looked in the direction of the sound and saw it was coming from off the path, now considering where she was, and what had just happened a few minutes before, most foals, and ponies in general, would not have crawled through a thicket of brambles to see who or what was crying, Scootaloo was not most ponies.

Once she had made it throat the thicket she finally saw the source of the crying, a baby Dragon, or that's what it looked like to Scootaloo, the creature was in fact a young Charmander.

"Are you alright?" Scootaloo asked.

The Charmander, who had been sobbing into his hands, looked up suddenly. "Char!" It cried, taking a few steps back.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you." Scootaloo told it.

The little Fire Pokémon sniffled. "Char?"

Scootaloo walked up to the Pokémon, but jumped back when she noticed its tail. "Uhh, you're on fire." She pointed out.

"Charmander." Charmander waved his tail back and forth, a confused look on his face.

Scootaloo tapped her chin. "Oh, I get it, you're one of those Pokémon, right?" Charmander nodded. "I thought you were a dragon, you kinda look like one."

Charmander sighed.

"What's wrong?" Scootaloo asked.

"Char…" He said sadly.

Scootaloo looked around the clearing and, seeing no one, asked. "Are you all alone out here?"

Charmander sniffled again, which basically confirmed it for Scootaloo. The little Pegasus had been an orphan herself, until she was adopted and her family moved to Ponyville, so she understood how the little Pokémon was feeling.

Scootaloo thought for a second, then got an idea. "Hey, you wanna come stay with me?" She asked with a smile.

"Char?"

"Yeah, I can't really leave you alone out here and besides, my mom loves animals." Scootaloo winced when the term slipped past her lips, remembering what Arceus had said yesterday.

Charmander, however, didn't seem to care. He ran up to Scootaloo and hugged the little Pegasus. Scootaloo smiled and hugged him back, as she led the little Fire-type out of the clearing and back to her scooter, two things crossed her mind. One, how was she going to explain having a flaming Pokémon to her parents, and two, how jealous would it make Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle hummed the Crusader tune to herself as she trotted out of the Ponyville pet supplies store. The little unicorn wasn't sure what Pinkie Pie wanted with… She looked down at her list.

"Fish food, cat food, dog food, bird seed, and meal worms." She winced as she remembered the cashier handing her the container with the bugs. "Check," She smiled as she crossed off the items, then read on. "Let's see, that's carrots, candy, candy carrots, watermelons, oranges, pears, chocolate, assorted pet food... huh," She said with the smile.

"That leaves peanuts and," She looked at the last item on the list in confusion. "Gemstones Rock candy… I suppose that's for Spike." Sweetie Belle shrugged and trotted off towards Sugarcube Corner, she knew Pinkie had a bunch of rock candy left over from her sister's visit, and she had asked Rarity if she wanted any for her dresses.

As she trotted through town, she noted just how many Pokémon were out and about. There were a bunch of oddly large and oddly colored birds, a few weird bugs, although Sweetie thought the green caterpillars were kinda cute, and a couple of odder things, including what looked like a rock, with arms and a face but no legs that was hopping around a small rock garden.

As Sweetie Belle crossed over a bridge she saw something in the river, it was a silhouette just under the surface, long and serpentine, with two bright glowing eyes, it quickly disappeared. Sweetie Belle shivered and wondered what kinda creepy snake thing it was, then she smiled.

Sitting on the banks of the river Sweetie saw a small blue, orange and yellow turtle, it was sitting on the bank, kicking its feet it the water and smiling, when it saw Sweetie Belle it waved at her. Sweetie Belle giggled and waved back.

"Squirtle." It cried, waving again.

"Hi!" She called back.

The Squirtle smiled, then dove into the river. Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked for the Pokémon in vain, then continued on her way to Sugarcube Corner. Just before she walked off the bridge however, she was stopped when she heard a soft splash, followed by what sounded like something from one of the video games her friend Button played.

_Clonk!_

Sweetie Belle whirled around and saw the Squirtle lying on its back, struggling to stand itself upright. The filly giggled again. "Here, let me help." She trotted over to the distressed Pokémon and helped stand it up.

"Squirtle, Squirtle!" It cried happily.

"Hi… again." Sweetie said with a smile. She looked over the edge of the bridge and judged the distance to the water. "Did you jump up here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Squirtle." Squirtle nodded in affirmative.

"Just so you could meet me?"

"Squirtle squirt." Another nod.

Sweetie Belle smiled. "You know you could've met me on the other side of the river right?"

Squirtle paused, considering that, then he looked down bashfully. "Squirtle..."

Sweetie giggled again. "That's alright, I mean, you're not hurt are you?"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon shook his head, then knocked on his shell. "Squirtle, Squirtle squirt."

Sweetie Belle looked at the little Pokémon, then back at the list Pinkie had given her. "Tell ya what, I've gotta finish getting some supplies for a party I'm helping with," Squirtle looked down, obviously disappointed. "But," She continued. "Once I'm done getting these last few things I'll introduce you to my friends and we can play, alright?"

Squirtle nodded happily and ran up to Sweetie Belle, he gave the little unicorn a quick hug before releasing her and smiling again.

"Alright," Sweetie said with a laugh. "Come on."

As the pair headed for Sugarcube Corner, Sweetie Belle considered how she was going to tell her friends about her new friend.

Apple Bloom let out a dissatisfied groan as she collapsed on the ground, she had been following Discord's instructions for the past few hours and she was tired. "Who knew party planning took so much work?" She thought to herself, although Apple Bloom was fairly certain at least half of Discord's instructions were unnecessary, even if he kept reading off the list Pinkie gave him.

As Apple Bloom lied in the shade of a tree, taking a break, she heard rustling in the branches, she opened her eyes to see a group of black… things, hanging there, each one of the bore a coat of leaves and had two twigs were its legs might've been. "Burmy?"

Apple Bloom just rolled on to her legs and walked off a bit. "Some of these Pokémon are just plain odd." She said aloud. Just then, a group of three monkeys, one green, one blue, and one red, scampered past. Once Apple Bloom found another tree she promptly laid down and closed her eyes. "Just five minutes." She mumbled.

Apple Bloom wasn't exactly physically exhausted, she worked harder than this on the farm most days, but taking random directions from the Lord of Chaos was enough to tire out anypony, or most ponies at least, barring Pinkie Pie.

Once again Apple Bloom laid in the shade of the tree, and once again she was interrupted by a rustling, although this time it was from the bushes. The filly cracked an eyelid and saw a Pokémon coming out of the bushes.

It was short and blue, with green spots on its body, most of its form consisted of the large green bulb that sprouted from its back. The Bulbasaur noticed Apple Bloom and looked at her curiously, it walked up to the Pony and sniffed her mane.

"Saur?" It said, as if confused, it sniffed Apple Bloom's mane again. "Bulba, Bulbasaur." It said to Apple Bloom.

"What do you want?" Apple Bloom asked in exasperation, tired of being interrupted. "Ah'm tryin' to take a break."

"Bulba, Bulbasaur, Saur Bulba Bulbasaur."

"Uhhh… come again?" She asked, wondering what the Seed Pokémon had just said.

"…Saur?" Suddenly, a tentacle, no, a vine emerged from the base of the bulb on Bulbasaur's back, it snaked through the air and towards Apple Bloom, where it wrapped around a chunk of her mane and held it slightly aloft. "Bulba?"

The filly thought for a second, wondering what it was trying to say, then she remembered something Belle had said the other day. "Does mah mane smell like apples?" She ventured.

The Grass-Type nodded, the cocked his head slightly. Apple Bloom laughed lightly at the little creatures antics. "Mah family runs an apple farm, Sweet Apple Acres, so ah guess it comes with the job er somethin'."

Bulbasaur nodded and released Apple Bloom's mane, its vines retreating back into its body. It then promptly sat down next to Apple Bloom. The filly sighed and shifted slightly to get more comfortable.

"Fine, you can stay… but ah gotta get back to work soon… or maybe not, it is Discord." Apple Bloom was surprised to see the Draconequus working so diligently on something that wasn't chaos related. Then again, it was a Pinkie party; anything could happen. Anything.

As Apple Bloom contemplated the Lord of Chaos, she felt something wrap around her body and looked over to see that Bulbasaur had one of its vines wrapped around her shoulder. It was smiling at her too.

Apple Bloom couldn't help but smile back, then she remembered something that Discord had mentioned, what Gene had done back on Earth.

"It does have a nice ring to it." She admitted. "Ah'll see what Sweetie and Scootaloo think about it when they get back."

Fluttershy smiled as she gave out the last of the food she had prepared for the Pokémon.

"Thank you, Fluttershy." Oshawott said with a grin as he accepted the bowl of fish.

As the little otter ran into the living room to join the other Pokémon, Fluttershy turned to the only Pokémon in the house she hadn't fed. "Are you sure you don't want anything, Duskull?" She asked the Ghost-type.

"No thank you, Fluttershy, I do not require such sustenance." Fluttershy was beginning to worry she was doing something wrong with the Requiem Pokémon, she decided to ask Misty about raising Pokémon when the former human got back.

As Fluttershy trotted into the living room, Duskull floating behind her, she smiled at all the little Pokémon, Shinx and Skitty were sitting next to each other on the couch across from all three of the Eevee sisters, Snivy sat by himself in one of the chairs and Yanma was perched on the edge of the table. Togepi was sitting with Oshawott and Cubone, and the Joltiks were still on the ceiling.

Fluttershy smiled at all the little Pokémon. Upon coming home, the mare had decided that they were more similar to foals than her animal friends, most of whom were still unsure of the Pokémon. Angel was upstairs, eating his meal in peace. Once more, Fluttershy worried about how the Pokémon's presence would affect the animals; she really hoped Arceus had a plan.

As Fluttershy watched the Pokémon eat, more pleasant thoughts entered her mind. _"They really are sweet,"_ She thought. _"How could these little cuties ever harm anything?"_

Fluttershy still had trouble believing that all Pokémon, even the little ones before her, had powers similar to Belle's to some extent, and that they could change appearance as drastically as Belle had.

When Gene had explained evolution, in the Pokémon sense of the word, she couldn't believe it, and upon seeing Belle's former form… she hadn't thought about it much at the time as she had been preoccupied with trying to accept how Pokéballs worked, and later heavily berating Discord on the subject, but she was shocked that a living creature could go through that. Sure, there were similarities between them but in the same way a foal looks like their parents.

Fluttershy was pulled from her thoughts as she felt something pawing at her leg, she looked down to see one of the Eevee sisters staring up at her, the other two sitting just behind their sibling. "Fluttershy?" She asked, wagging her tail. "Will you play with us?"

The Pegasus had to hold herself back from scooping up the little fox and hugging her. "Of course, sweetie," She said with a smile. "How about hide-and-seek? I'll count to ten, and you hide."

"Ok!" She cried happily.

Fluttershy covered her eyes with a hoof and began counting. "One… two…" Fluttershy heard a large number of paws and feet shuffling, wings buzzing, and legs scuttling. By the time she reached ten and uncovered her eyes she wasn't surprised to see that all the Pokémon, except for Snivy and Duskull, had hidden themselves. _"Oh, yes,"_ Fluttershy thought as she began her search. _"Just like raising foals."_


	23. Chapter 21

Korrina sat on a secluded portion of Sweet Apple Acres, staring down at her paws. "I can't freakin believe this." She said to herself.

After they had explained where Applejack was to Miss Smith and Big Mac, Korrina had snuck away from Lucario; she needed some space to clear her head. Korrina wanted to believe that she would get her body back, that she wouldn't have to spend her life as a Pokémon, but whenever she compare Arceus to Princess Celestia the odds seemed stacked against her.

"Maybe Princess Twilight knows a spell or something?" Korrina knew next to nothing about magic, but she was willing to try anything if it gave her some semblance of her old life back.

Korrina pushed herself up. "Stupid... why'd he have to drop us here?" The former Gym Leader was... grateful that Arceus had seen fit to bring her along, but she wished that he had given her a choice.

She looked down at her paws again, glaring at them she said. "I'm not going to live like this." Through gritted teeth. Whirling around, she started hitting one of the apple trees.

"I'm,"

**Thud!**

"A,"

**Thud!**

"Human,"

**Thud!**

"Being!"

The tree shook with each blow, and on the last strike the apples fell, one of them bouncing off of Korrina's helmet.

Korrina stood there for a moment, panting, until someone from behind her spoke up.

"You alright?"

Korrina whirled around to see Big Mac standing there, concern clear on his face. Korrina crossed her arms and turned away. "Yeah, fine."

Big Mac sighed. "Ya know, ah may not be as honest as my sister, but ah can still tell when someone's lyin' ta me... and ta themselves."

Korrina grumbled something under her breath but Big Mac ignored her and continued. "Now ah don't know exactly what's goin' on with ya, but one thing ah can tell is that it's stressin' you out somethin' fierce, so why don't you talk about it?"

"You... you wouldn't understand." Korrina hung her head.

Big Mac shrugged. "Maybe, but it can still help if'n ya talk about it."

Korrina looked at the stallion quizzically, then sighed. "I, I just don't feel right anymore." She admitted. "This isn't me; I'm a human, not a Pokémon."

Big Mac remained silent, the stallion was use to helping his sisters and some of his friends through their problems, emotional, social, but he had no idea how to help Korrina. "Well... is there anything you can do that you haven't already tried?"

Korrina shrugged. "Princess Celestia said she would try to get Arceus to fix this but..."

"But?" Mac inquired.

"But Arceus is, and no offense to your ruler or anything, older and probably wiser than the Princesses, at least in some ways, and he's definitely more powerful."

Mac nodded. "Did you try askin' him ta fix ya? Tell him why?"

Korrina sighed. "Twice, and he just calmly shrugged the question off, usually using Gene and Belle to counter my argument."

"How so?"

Korrina was silent for a moment

"Korrina?"

"It's a racial thing alright!?" She answered. "He kept using the fact that I don't really approve of their relationship against me and if I argued then I'd look like a dick in front of the Princesses."

Mac raised any eyebrow. "You don't approve of their relationship? How come? They seem like a right nice pair, looked real happy together too."

Korrina slumped against a tree trunk and slid to the ground. "Cause humans aren't supposed to love Pokémon like that."

Big Mac's eyes widened as he realized he had stumbled across a social taboo of some sort. "Well, ah... but Gene ain't really a human anymore."

"Yeah, and that's the problem!" Korrina shouted. "Cause he doesn't want to be human again, and how can I freakin' blame him! Even I have to admit that they just seem so happy now, and if I try to take that from him what kinda person am I?" Korrina remembered how, when the Officer Jennies had come to her gym looking for Gene, she had barely batted an eye as she pointed them the way he had gone.

"And it doesn't help hearing that some of the most influential people on my world, the freakin' Champions! Iris, Cynthia even! Knew about him and Belle and actually supported them." That had been the last straw for the Gym leader, hearing that both the Sinnoh and Unova champions had helped Gene and Belle for years, along with Professor Juniper and she assumed several others.

Big Mac shifted nervously, and then he took a deep breath and began. "Look, I ain't gonna throw my own opinion at ya, ain't gonna pretend to understand, and ah ain't gonna tell ya that everything's gonna be alright when ah rightfully have no idea if it is or isn't."

"Some pep talk." Korrina mumbled under her breath.

"But what ah am gonna say is this, ya shouldn't let anyone else's choices influence yer own, and don't let others use them against ya, if ya want somethin', then ya work for it and if it really is impossible, then at least ya know ya tried yer hardest." He smiled, and Korrina looked up at him.

"I... I don't know what to say." Korrina admitted. "I mean, I guess you're right but... I don't want to admit that there's a chance that... that..."

"That things'll never go back to normal?" Mac ventured. "Honestly, since it seems that y'all are gonna be stayin' on Equus ah don't think it will, whatever body ya stay here in though... like ah said, don't give up and then you'll see what happens."

Korrina was silent for a moment. "I... thanks Mac." She said with a small smile. "I think that maybe that did help a little bit."

Mac smiled. "Anytime, although you might wanna consider talking ta Lucario, he's probably just as confused as you are." _"Or more so, in some ways."_

Korrina pushed herself off the ground. "Yeah, you're probably right," Her somber expression turned to a grin. "And sitting here feeling sorry for myself isn't gonna fix anything."

Mac chuckled as Korrina ran past him back towards the farm. "Reminds me a bit of AJ, or maybe Rainbow Dash." He chuckled again. "If'n I'm right then that boy's got his work cut out for him."

Mac started picking up the apples that Korrina had knocked to the ground, whistling as he did.

* * *

Rainbow Dash flew over Cloudsdale as she made her way through her old home town. Rainbow Dash had already visited her parents, and had explained what was going on to them. They had both been worried about her and her friends but after Rainbow explained further... well they were still worried but that's how most parents are.

Dash was considering where to go next, and was leaning towards heading back to Ponyville and letting Bio Chem explain everything to the Princess. That was when she saw the smoke; actually smog would've been a more accurate descriptor.

Rainbow Dash landed on the edge of the smog bank and saw that all the ponies around her were coughing. Rainbow noticed a team of paramedics and quickly flew over to them. "What happened? Some kind of chemical leak?" Her father had once told her that the weather plant use to spring leaks from time to time, but it hadn't happened since before Rainbow had been born.

One of the medics, a pegasus mare with a white red coat and a white mane, shook her head. "No... not a chemical leak it's... some kind of... creature."

Rainbow thought for a second, then inquired. "A Pokémon?"

"Probably," the mare answered. "But we can't even see it clearly 'some kind of floating blob' that's what the ponies we pull out keep saying."

"Nurse Tenderhoof!" One of the doctors called. "We need you over here!"

"Sorry, I gotta go." As the nurse fluttered off Rainbow looked back at the smog bank, she vaguely remembered Professor Juniper mentioning something about Poison-type Pokémon being a thing, not that that would help her now.

Rainbow thought for a second, then took to the air, flying just above the noxious cloud. "Hey!" She called into the toxic fog. "Whatever you are, cut it out already! You're hurting ponies!"

No response came, save for something that sounded like wheezing, and Dash took that as a sign to move on with her brilliant, on-the-spot, plan.

Dash flew to the edge of the cloud and flared her wings, concentrating, she compacted air molecules beneath them and...

**Whomp!**

The airwave blasted forth and hit smog bank, dissipating it and thinning it out.

Dash smiled; at least whatever this was wasn't magical. That would've made things a lot more difficult.

Dash continued her assault for a few more minutes, but as she did whatever was in making the smog continued to belch more out.

"Come on already!" Dash cried in exasperation. Throwing extra power into her next strike, she managed to clear away enough smog to get a clear view of the creature, and it almost made Rainbow sick.

The creature was a floating blob, as had been described, but it looked more like a toxic floating rock, the wide mouthed face and sunken eyes made Rainbow think of the trolls she'd seen in Twilight's monster books, but what made Rainbow feel sick was its head, or more specifically, heads.

The second, smaller head was directly fused to the larger one, and both wore an almost vacant expression, the smog that jetted irregularly from its bulbous body and the skull and cross bones beneath its faces only made Rainbow Dash more nervous.

"What are you?" She whispered.

"We are Weezing." The two heads rasped. "And who are you?" Their voices overlapped and the larger one sounded like it had been smoking for years, deep and gravelly, while the other one was shrill and scratchy.

"The name's Rainbow Dash, and what are you... two, doing?"

"We are-" The Weezing suddenly made a hissing sound, like air escaping a balloon, and released a large amount of toxic gas. "Pain... can't stop..." It said in almost a whimper. "R... Rocket."

Rainbow Dash began flapping again, attempting to drive the gas back, this time too little avail, and began thinking up other options. "Where are the Wonderbolts when you need them?" She asked herself.

Then Dash got an idea, an idea that at the time, seemed relatively reasonable, but in hindsight, was really, _really_ stupid.

"Let's do this." She said, shifting her wings and launching forward, right into the toxic cloud. Dash held her breath as she searched the cloud, her eyes burning from the fumes, until she found what she was looking for. _"Got yah."_ She thought as she hooked her foreleg through the Weezing's... bone... thing. And pulled it with her, to her surprise, it was nowhere near as heavy as she thought it'd be.

Dash figured that if she could get the Pokémon out of the city... at least it wouldn't be poisoning ponies.

"Stop," The smaller head wheezed. "Please."

"Not until we're out of the city!" Rainbow shouted over the wind rushing past her ears.

It only took a few minutes for the fastest flier (or at least pegasus) in Equestria to reach the outskirts of Cloudsdale, the very edge of the city was just empty fields of cloud and hills for aesthetic appeal, Rainbow made to land, but then something went wrong, behind Rainbow, there was a hissing sound, followed by a loud pop and then a burning sensation in the pegasus' eyes and throat.

Rainbow started choking and dropped, bouncing off the clouds as the Weezing crashed a few feet behind her, poison gas leaking from a new hole in its body.

As Dash's vision blurred she thought she saw something circling above her, something silver and red, something leaving a trail of fire behind it. Then Dash blacked out.

* * *

Keldeo, the Colt Pokémon, paced back and forth in his room, waiting. _"Where is she? Where is she?"_He asked himself repeatedly, until he heard a knock at the door and saw Virizion sticking her head in.

"_You wanted to see me Keldeo?"_ The Grass-type asked, a smile on her lips.

"_Yeah, thanks for getting here so quick."_

Virizion walked over to Keldeo and pulled him into a nuzzle. _"Anything for you my little colt."_

Keldeo rolled his eyes but smiled none the less. Virizion, while not his actual mother, had taken a big part in raising the youngest Sacred Swordsman and they loved each other dearly, even if she could be a bit overprotective at times, and he could be a little bit reckless.

"_So what did you want to talk about?"_ Virizion asked.

Keldeo shifted nervously on his hooves. _"Well, you see Virizion, the other day, when those ponies came here, I wandered into the meeting hall and... well there was this really cute mare who I can't stop thinking about and-Ahh!"_

Keldeo was cut off as Virizion pulled him close to her in a semblance of a hug, saying. _"Oh how sweet, my little colt's first crush!"_

Keldeo blushed fiercely and tried to escape from his teacher/mothers grasp, to no avail, until she let him go. _"Go on, tell me everything about her."_

Keldeo sighed. _"That's just it, all I know is that her name's Lady Rarity, we didn't actually get to talk the other day."_

Virizion though for a moment, then said. _"Well we'll just have to fix that now won't we?"_ She then proceeded to usher Keldeo out of the room.

"_Wait, what?"_ Keldeo asked in confusion. _"Where are we going?"_

"_To visit Lord Arceus, he's doing something with Rayquaza at the moment, and then we're going to go pay a visit to miss Rarity."_

"_You're kidding right?"_ Keldeo asked. _"Please tell me you're kidding?"_

"_Now, now, Keldeo. I can understand that you're nervous but you need to face this head on."_ Virizion wasn't entirely paying attention to her adopted son's arguments at this point, more she was wondering on how to coach the young legendary how to be a proper gentlemen... gentlecolt... whatever the term was.

Keldeo glumly followed Virizion, he should have known this would happen, Virizion was kind of the self-appointed den mother of the legendaries, specifically the younger ones, before Arceus' returned she was the main reason the Legendaries kept any kind of contact with each other, well, her Cresselia, and Mew.

And she was the _only_ reason that Black and N weren't attacked the moment they caught Zekrom and Reshiram.

It only took a few minutes for the Fighting-types to find Arceus and Rayquaza, granted the later usually took up most of whatever room he was in.

"_Lord Arceus, Lord Rayquaza,"_ Virizion said with a bow, Keldeo following her example.

"_You know you don't have to call me lord every time, we are family."_ Arceus said, his powers concentrated on the sky lord.

"_What are you doing anyway?"_ Keldeo asked, looking over the Dragon.

"_Making it so Rayquaza doesn't collapse Cloudsdale if he flies past it."_ Arceus explained. _"What brings you two here."_

Virizion wasted no time in explaining. _"Well you see Lord Arceus,"_ She began. _"Little Keldeo here has developed his first crush, and I wanted to take him to see her."_

If Arceus had lips, they would've curved upwards. _"Is that so?"_ He asked. _"And would this crush happen to be a certain unicorn who was here the other day?"_

Keldeo blushed deeply. _"Y-yes."_

Arceus chuckled. _"Ahh, to be young... huh."_ Arceus realized that the rest of the saying wouldn't make sense coming from one who had literally been old when time began. _"Anyway, Miss Rarity is..."_ Arceus checked the vast expanse of space and time. _"On her way back to Ponyville, oh, and yes, you can leave, Terrakion and Cobalion as well."_

Virizion smiled. _"Thank you my lord."_

"_No problem,"_ Arceus said as the pair made for the exit. _"Oh, and Keldeo?"_ The Colt Pokémon turned back to Arceus. _"Good luck."_

Keldeo blushed again and groaned before leaving the room.

Arceus chuckled as the Colt left the room, then turned back to Rayquaza. _"Just a few more moments and then-"_

A burst of smoke flew into the room and solidified into a scroll with the Canterlot royal seal on it.

Confused, Arceus willed the letter to him and unrolled it. The Alpha Pokémon's eyes went wide.

"_Well we're done here anyway, now I've got to go find Meloetta."_ Arceus disappeared in his usual flash of gold, dropping and scroll and allowing it to unroll on the floor, revealing the words.

_Cloudsdale general hospital._

* * *

Rainbow Dash awoke to the voice of an angel... _"...Ok what?"_

Dash cracked open one of her eyelids and immediately shielded it with her hoof. "Ohhh..."

"_Oh good, you're awake."_ Rainbow looked up and saw... well whatever it was it looked kinda like Belle, only a lot smaller and a different color. _"We were beginning to worry."_

"We?" Rainbow groaned.

"My sister and Arceus would be here if not for, well, current circumstances." Luna said.

After the shock that Luna was in the room passed Dash turned her attention back to Meloetta. "Who are you? And what exactly happened?"

"_Lady Meloetta, guardian of music, at your service."_ Meloetta said with a bow.

"She's a legendary," Luna explained. "And she healed you, using her singing, interestingly enough."

"_As for the what,"_ Meloetta explained. _"You took in a large amount of toxic gas from a genetically altered Weezing."_ Meloetta's voice developed a chill at the end of her sentence. _"Team Rocket."_ She hissed.

"What?" Dash asked.

"_Some of the worst people back on Earth,"_ Meloetta explained. _"They treat Pokémon like tools and then try to 'improve' them. The Weezing was a failed experiment, Mew said they tried to make it a living gas bomb by overcharging its Self-Destruct and Explosion, that caused it to actually blow holes in it's casing, which let all the toxic gas out."_

"Self-Destruct?" Luna asked.

"_Oh, uh, it's a move some Pokémon can learn."_ Meloetta answered.

"That's kinda unsettling." Dash added.

Luna sighed. "Anyway, Arceus' daughter Mew was here earlier, she fixed whatever was wrong with the Pokémon and then returned to Arceus."

"How long was I out?" Dash asked, slightly worried.

"All in all?" Luna said. "About an hour and a half."

Rainbow's jaw dropped slightly. "Wow, you guys work almost as fast as me."

Meloetta giggled. _"Let's just say we've had some practice."_ The legendaries often found themselves in dangerous situations, usually involving humans.

Dash smiled, then grew confused as she remembered her last conscious moments. "How did I get here?" Dash asked. "No one was around when I passed out, not that I could see at least."

Luna and Meloetta looked at each other. _"The doctors said you and Weezing were dropped off by a Dragon of sorts."_ Meloetta began.

"But from the description given, Meloetta determined that it was, in fact a Pokémon, likely one known as a Char-lizard."

"_It's Charizard."_ Meloetta grumbled. _"It's not my fault you make bad puns of their names."_

"I think yours are the puns, but no matter." Luna commented.

"_It was probably a Charizard, although the description was... off, in some ways."_ Meloetta shrugged.

"So someone basically saved my life, and then left?" Dash asked.

"_Well... we're not actually sure how Pokémon poison is going to affect Ponies, although apparently it makes you pass out, but other than that,"_ Meloetta shrugged. _"It usually makes Pokémon faint if left without healing for long enough, same with humans, although if it gets really bad, then they can die, so,"_

Dash and Luna didn't say anything for a moment, then Dash spoke up. "Ooook, I'm just gonna take that as a yes, do we have any idea where this Dragon went?"

Luna shook her head. "The receptionist said that after it dropped you off, it flew off in the direction of the lonesome mountain."

"Where?" Dash asked.

"The mountain where you and the others spoke with the Red Dragon who temporarily took up residence in Equestria." Luna explained.

Dash thought on this for a moment, then shot out of the hospital bed, leaving behind the robe they had put her in. "In that case," Dash made it to the window and opened it. "I've gotta go find this guy, and thank him."

Meloetta watched as Dash flew out the window, in the direction of a single mountain amongst rolling hills.

The Melody Pokémon turned to Princess Luna in confusion. _"You're just going to let her leave?"_

Luna shrugged. "Rainbow Dash can handle herself quite well, she's a cadet in the Wonderbolts reserves now."

Meloetta sighed. _"Fine, I'm going to check out the city."_ Meloetta floated out the open window, leaving Luna by herself in the hospital room.

The Lunar Princess smiled. "Now just for some supplies," Luna trotted out of the room, a spring in her step. "A good teacher must always be prepared."


	24. Chapter 22

"_You know what? I was actually starting to think this might not be so bad,"_ Keldeo said as he made his way out of the Everfree. _"I thought, 'Hey, Virizion's not gonna embarrass me too much, I'm sure it'll be fine.'"_

"_And now?"_ Terrakion asked.

Keldeo glared at him. _"What do you think?"_

Virizion fought back the urge to laugh. She hadn't expected Cobalion and Terrakion to tag along when she told them where she and Keldeo were going, but, as Terrakion had said. "The more the merrier."

"_Did you all have to come?"_ The Colt Pokémon asked, slightly perturbed that his entire "family" was coming with him. _"I don't even know what I'm going say. Heck, I wasn't even going to do this until Virizion butted in."_

"_Oh sweetie,"_ Virizion cooed. _"Just be yourself, any mare would be lucky to have you."_

"_I was thinking more along the lines of what I'm going to say, I can't just walk up to her door and ask her out."_ Keldeo was beginning to think he should have gone to Cresselia instead.

"_I do not understand this form of courting,"_ Cobalion interjected. _"It was much simpler when the strongest fighter was awarded the most eligible mate."_

The other swordsmen were silent for a moment. _"Cobalion,"_ Terrakion started. _"You're just as old as Virizion and I, and you never even courted anyone, do you really think you're qualified to give dating advice?"_

"_And for the record,"_ Virizion added. _"That sounded kinda sexist, you might wanna watch how you word your... reminiscences."_

"_Hmm... point taken."_

Keldeo sighed. _"Look guys I appreciate the... help, but I'm not going to jump into this, I wanna get to know Rarity before I start anything... serious."_

"_A wise choice if I've ever heard one."_ Cobalion nodded. _"Although I suggest you figure out what you are going to say, because it appears we have reached Ponyville."_

Keldeo looked up and saw that they had indeed reached Ponyville. _"Well,"_ Terrakion said with a grin._"I guess it's time to meet the locals."_

As the swordsmen made their way into town they noticed several things, one thing in particular._"They're all staring."_ Keldeo noted. _"Why are they all staring?"_

"_Not sure,"_ Terrakion answered. _"But I kinda like it."_ Terrakion grinned at a pair of Pegasus mares and flexed, the mares developed an expression that was mixture of confusion and horror.

Virizion sighed and stepped forward. _"Sorry about him,"_ She said to the pair. _"He can't control himself sometimes."_

Flitter and Cloudchaser's mouths dropped, but before they could say anything Keldeo ushered Virizion and Terrakion forward. _"Can you two please not..."_

Cobalion stepped forward and glanced at the sisters. _"Madams."_ He said with a nod, before following after his colleagues.

A few moments later and the quartet was in the center of town, Cobalion leading the group. _"Oh come now sweetie,"_ Virizion said to Keldeo. _"I'm sure everything will work out fine."_

_And soon I'll be looking after your little foals._ She thought to herself.

"_Not to burst anyone's bubble here."_ Cobalion interrupted. _"But I'm not exactly sure where this Carousel Boutique is."_

The Swordsmen paused and looked to each other, then they all turned to Keldeo. _"Oh no,"_ He shook his head. _"I was just looking for advice, you dragged me here."_

"_Well we're going to need directions,"_ Cobalion looked around. _"Think anyone would be willing to give them?"_

"_I'm sure we can find someone."_ Virizion said. The Grassland Pokémon looked around and spotted a tan coated stallion with three horseshoes for a cutie mark.

Virizion smiled and walked up to the stallion. _"Hello there."_ She greeted. Caramel looked up and the stallions mouth fell open.

"Um... hi." He said in return.

Virizion giggled. _"My friends and I are trying to find Carousel Boutique, would you mind pointing us in the right direction?"_

Caramel nodded. "Just keep going the way you were, you can't miss it."

"_Thank you."_ Virizion trotted back over to the others, then Caramel noticed that Terrakion, Keldeo, and Cobalion were glaring at him, he quickly headed in the opposite direction.

"_Well come along then."_ Virizion trotted towards Carousel Boutique, the other Swords of Justice following.

Soon, their destination came into view. _"Guys... maybe this is a bad idea,"_ Keldeo said nervously. _"I mean, we can't just show up uninvited like this."_

"_True,"_ Virizion agreed. _"That would be rude,"_ The Grass-type smiled and turned away from the group for a moment. _"Nature Power."_

Keldeo and the other male Swordsmen watched Virizion in confusion for a moment, then she turned around holding a single rose in her mouth. _"Here."_ She passed the rose to Keldeo. _"Now you won't be showing up empty hoofed."_

Keldeo rolled his eyes. _"Guys I don't-"_

"_No more arguments young colt!"_ Virizion ordered. _"Now go introduce yourself, we'll be behind you the entire time."_

Virizion had meant this literally, but upon seeing the horror in the Colt Pokémon's eyes Cobalion decided that wasn't going to work. _"Of course, you have our full support, come now you two."_

To Virizion's shock, Cobalion and Terrakion began leading her away from the boutique. _"Wait but I wanted to... good luck! And remember, just be yourself!"_

Keldeo chuckled at Virizion's actions, then looked back towards the boutique, then at the rose Virizion had thrust upon him. He sighed. _"Well, here goes nothing."_

Keldeo walked up to the door of Carousel Boutique, took a deep breath, and knocked.

* * *

Twilight read over the letter Princess Celestia had sent to her, then she read it again, then she had Spike read it. "Sooo... she's planning on making Pokémon citizens?" Spike asked.

"Not exactly," Twilight levitated the letter back to her and reread it. "She's just giving them rights so that they're protected by the law."

"And that means that Hard Proof is going to jail?" May asked, holding an ice pack to her head.

"Maybe, he did disturb the peace and acted violently but since the law's being passed after he attacked you..."

"I get it." May interrupted. "I just want this whole thing to blow over."

May had awoken soon after Twilight had sent her letter to the Princess, Juniper had then filled her in on what has happened, specifically, why Arceus had done what he did. That hadn't gone over too well, although May had stayed calm long enough for Juniper to finish explaining. Then she had decided that she wanted to come back to Ponyville with Twilight and Juniper.

Twilight wasn't sure what May was planning but she knew she was planning something, either involving Gene or Arceus or perhaps both.

Twilight sighed, outside of the Plunder Vines invasion of Equestria this was her first real task as a Princess, and it was something that was tasking Celestia, Luna, and she assumed Cadence. _"I should really check in on her."_ She thought to herself, recalling what Juniper had told her about Ice-types, and a few Pokémon that ate crystals.

Twilight shook her head, trying to refocus, which wasn't easy, she was faced with possibly the biggest event in Equine history and she was torn between researching it and trying to smooth it out.

While Twilight pondered her position someone knocked at the door. "Princess?" The mayor stuck his head in. "I hate to bother you, your highness, but... Hard Proof, the stallion you arrested, he's been asking to talk to the arresting officer, which is, well, you. And speaking of, there is some paper work you have to fill out regarding the arrest."

Twilight groaned but got up. "Fine, let's just get this over with."

"You want me to come with?" Spike asked.

"No Spike, this'll only take a minute," She glanced at May. "Just keep an eye on her for me alright?"

"Yes ma'am." Spike saluted.

Twilight nodded and followed the mayor out of the room they were in, the group was staying at town hall for the night, aside for Falkner and Pidgeot, who were flying around town, and were heading back to Ponyville in the morning, and invitation Twilight intended to extend to Falkner when next she saw him.

It didn't take long for Twilight to reach the police station where they were holding Hard Proof, and it took even less time for her to fill out the arrest form. Fortuitously, it was still completely blank, meaning that Twilight was able to include the Pokémon related laws that had _technically_ gone into effect when they had been approved.

Originally, Twilight wasn't going to talk to Hard Proof, she wasn't in the mood to deal with some racist stallion. But, given some time to think about it, she decided it might be a good idea to try and figure out what made him tick, after all, she would probably have to deal with more ponies like him before things calmed down.

Twilight asked one of the officers to take her to him and, after checking if she really wanted to see him, lead the Princess to one of the holding cells.

"He's use to this by now," The officer told her. "This isn't his first time."

Twilight peered at the stallion sitting glumly in the cell. "What did he do?"

The officer shrugged. "Disturbing the peace mostly, some harassment, but this is the first time he's attacked somepony... someone."

Twilight nodded, then after another moment observing the stallion, motioned for the guard to open the door.

The silver stallion looked up as Twilight and the officer walked in. "Hello," Twilight greeted awkwardly. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle... the mayor said that you wanted to see me."

Hard Proof glared at her for a moment, then spoke. "I just want to know why?"

Twilight's expression quickly turned to confusion. "Why what?"

Hard Proof turned away and mumbled, almost inaudibly. "Why a Princess sided with those monsters over her own people."

"I'm not siding against anyone." Twilight defended. "I'm trying to salvage this situation before everything falls into chaos."

"Then why aren't the Princesses rounding up these creatures?!" Hard Proof snapped. "Why hasn't Princess Celestia attacked that bigoted monster who brought these things here!?"

Twilight took a few steps backwards and the officer took a few steps forward. Hard Proof sat back down. "Look Mister Proof," Twilight said after a moment. "The Pokémon aren't monsters, they're just as intelligent as you and I,"

"_Probably quite a bit more so than the former."_ She thought.

"And Lord Arceus has his reasons for doing what he did, he may have made gone about enacting his plan in the entirely wrong way, but he doesn't want to cause trouble, he just seems to lack foresight, and maybe common sense."

At this Hard Proof scoffed. "You really think these monsters-"

"They're Pokémon, not monsters!" Twilight snapped. "And I'm happy to say that I count a few of them as friends." Twilight had grown rather fond of Juniper in the short time she had known her, as well as Gene and Belle and, to a slightly lesser extent, Korrina and Misty. "So either talk to me like an intelligent stallion, or just stop talking all together."

Hard Proof was silent for a moment, but as Twilight made to leave he spoke up. "Are you really going to support these... Pokémon, and their leader? They're invading just like those bugs did last year, only this time it's not just Canterlot."

Twilight shook her head. "I know this seems bad... ok, it is bad, but Princess Celestia is doing everything she can to make this right. She called a council with the other countries of Equus and she's been talking with Lord Arceus."

Hard Proof said nothing; he just grunted and turned away from the Alicorn.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. She motioned for the officer to open the door, as she left Twilight spared one more glance at the stallion, then she walked away. As the door shut, Hard Proof mumbled one word under his breath, to quiet to hear. "Traitor."

* * *

Rainbow Dash landed on a rocky ledge and peered down the side of the mountain she had landed on, it had taken about an hour and the sun was getting low on the horizon, she was just glad she could fly this time, it would've taken her way to long to climb the mountain on hoof, although that appeared to be just ponies.

Dash had stopped her ascent because she wanted to get a closer look at something, scattered amongst the rocky crevices and outcroppings were what Rainbow assumed were Pokémon, the ones that had caught her attention looked almost identical to normal mountain goats, aside from the leaves sprouting from their necks.

Now that Rainbow was closer, she could also see slopes carved down the mountain, and plodding around at the top of the slopes were creatures that looked like walking boulders with four arms. Every now and again, and seemingly at random, one would jump down the slopes and roll down the mountain.

"Weird." Dash commented before taking to the air again and returning to the task at hoof. "Now if I were a Dragon, where would I be." Dash thought for a moment, then face hoofed as the answer came. "Duh! The same cave as last time."

Dash quickly changed course and soon found herself nearing the top of the mountain. "Wonder why this guy's all alone... maybe it's a Dragon thing."

Dash shrugged it off as she passed the last ridge and was greeted by the open sky, she quickly stopped ascending and looked down, seeing the same cave that she and the others had found the Red Dragon in Dash landed and looked around.

"Well it looks like someone's been here recently." Dash said, noting the scuff marks that looked as if something big had been landing and taking off from here, as well as the claw marks leading to the cave.

Dash trotted forward and looked into the cave, she smiled as she saw a small fire inside. Rainbow was about to head in, when she realized that disturbing a possibly sleeping Dragon hadn't worked out so well last time, so instead.

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

She knocked on the side of the cave and called. "Hello? Anybody home?" For a moment, nothing happened, then Dash heard something inside the cave grumble, she took a few steps back and noticed that the firelight was getting closer.

As it did, Rainbow was able to make out just what was in the cave. "Definitely a Dragon." She said nervously, hoping she hadn't stumbled across something much worse than her savior.

Dash stood her ground a few feet from the mouth of the cave, watching as the Dragon slowly made its way towards her. Soon the creature stood in full view of Rainbow Dash, and she could finally tell just what it was.

The flaming tail, silver and tan skin, red wings, horns... baseball cap? Dash was now fairly certain that this creature was the Charizard that had saved her, the description and colors fit, and she didn't think any real Dragons wore hats... aside from Spike... and Discord.

The hat was fitted, somehow, so that the Charizard's horns stuck through the back, how it had got it on there was a mystery. "Uh... hi." Dash greeted. "I'm Rainbow Dash... I think you saved my life?"

The Charizard said nothing, it just looked Rainbow Dash up and down.

"I wanted to say thank you... for saving me I mean... that was you wasn't it?"

Still the Fire-type didn't speak.

"... For the record I can understand you, Princess Celestia cast a translation spell on me so that I could understand Pokémon."

The Charizard raised an eyebrow, then, to Dash's surprise, he chuckled. "Is that so?" His voice was much softer and smoother than Dash had expected. "In that case, yes, I was the one who rescued you, saw what you did for that Weezing, very brave, by the way."

"Th-thanks," Dash said. "But it was really nothing."

The Charizard looked at her quizzically. "Really? Where I come from, not many would risk their lives for a Poison-type."

At this point Dash started to put some things together, how the Pokémon was wording his sentences, the hat, how he hadn't spoken at first, the hat... mainly the hat. "Hang on, did you use to be human?" She finally asked.

The Charizard looked shocked. "You... know about humans? How?"

Dash shrugged. "You're not the only one who's in a new body, there are a few of 'em down in Ponyville, I could take you there if you-"

"No." He held up a claw. "I... prefer my solitude, it helps me think... and besides, I need to find my team."

Dash raised an eyebrow. "You sure? The others, well most of the others, are trying to convince Arceus to turn them human again, Princess Celestia's trying too, I'm sure they could use some support."

He shook his head. "No. I've had my share of adventures, I'm not going to go upset a God..." He bit his lower lip, as if he was feeling indecisive. "If... if you really need my help, or if you think there's a real chance Arceus might," He looked down at his claws. "Turn us back, then come and find me, but until then, Miss Dash, I bid you adieu."

Dash nodded. "Alright, just wanted to say thanks, and if you ever need something come look me up."

"Thank you Miss Dash." He turned to leave but Dash got the feeling he would never take her up on her offer.

Dash made to leave as well but stopped. "Oh hey, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

The Charizard stopped and glanced back at her. "My name?" Dash nodded, he smirked. "My name's Red."

Red retreated back into the cave, leaving Dash wondering just who he was, and why she felt intimidated.

* * *

Rarity hummed to herself as she set up a pot of tea in the kitchen. "That'll be done soon."

The fashionista trotted back into her living room, where she smiled as she saw Opal still playing with Spritzee, batting at the little pink ball as she fluttered just out of reach, to Rarity's surprise, the usually aggressive cat had gotten along quite well with the little Fairy.

Rarity had thought that maybe her cat was finally becoming more social, until she remembered what Gene had said about Spritzee's scent, and realized that Opal was probably smelling cat nip, still it was cute to watch.

Rarity had arrived back at Ponyville not long ago, having checked on the Eternal Sundial, which was, and several others had supported this with their own findings, a completely unknown type of rock that seemed to have naturally formed in the shape it was, including the gold plates, was infused with some kind of magic, and had some kind of spinning rings in front of it.

More than likely Arceus had created it out of nothing, as crystals did not naturally form like that.

"Well, I suppose I could go check on Pinkie Pie, the poor dear must be running herself ragged with all these parties."

_*Knock, knock, knock*_

Rarity looked at the door. "I wonder who that could be." Rarity trotted over to the door and opened it. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique," She began her slogan, not even looking to see who it was. "Home of the chic, unique, and magnific."

"_Umm... Hi."_

Rarity's eyes widened as she looked who had come to her door. She was shocked to see the Pony... Pokémon, from the other day... Keldeo, standing there. "Oh... hello, Keldeo right?"

The Colt Pokémon smiled, Rarity noted the Rose he held in his mouth. _"Yeah, sorry for the intrusion I just..."_ Keldeo quickly realized he still hadn't thought of what he was going to say, he for sure wasn't going to just ask her out, she'd think he was weird. _"Me and my... family, were out and I thought I'd stop by."_

Rarity raised an eyebrow and glanced at the rose. Keldeo blushed. _"Virizion said I shouldn't show up empty hooved."_

"Who's Virizion?" Rarity asked.

"_She's... basically my mother but... it's complicated, look I'm sorry, this was a bad idea, I should go."_ Keldeo turned to leave but Rarity stopped him.

"No, no, no darling, please come in." Before he could say anything Rarity pulled him inside. "Sorry if I sounded rude, you would not believe the day I've had... actually you probably would now wouldn't you?" Rarity giggled, as sweet sound that made Keldeo's heart flutter.

Then he felt his jaw tingling and opened it to see the rose enveloped in a light blue aura. "I'll just go put this in some water, be back in a minute." She called as she trotted into the kitchen.

Keldeo smiled, so far, things were actually going better than he expected. "Now then," Rarity trotted back in with two cups of tea in her grasp. "Where were we?" She placed the tea cup in front of Keldeo.

Ignoring the cup Keldeo turned to Rarity. _"You just invited me in, I didn't really say anything."_

Rarity nodded and took a sip of her tea, inconspicuously eyeing Keldeo as she did. For the first time she really got a good look at the Pokémon. "Well dear," She began. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself, we are neighbors, sort of... do you live in that temple or not?"

Keldeo shrugged. _"Not usually, it just got restored so no one really stayed there, and I didn't really have a home, me and the other Swordsmen just traveled around, helping others."_

Keldeo and Rarity had moved to the couch in the living room and were both sitting on it, Rarity noticed that Keldeo hadn't touched his tea. "Swordsmen hmm? And who might they be? More Legendaries I presume."

Keldeo nodded. _"The Swords of Justice, yeah, Arceus tasked us with protecting the Pokémon of the Unova region, Cobalion's the leader, Virizion, she's the one who really raised me, and Terrakion."_

Rarity, her ears attuned for subtext, picked up on something that Keldeo wasn't saying. "You keep saying that this Virizion raised you," She pointed out. "But she's not your mother? Is it some kind of Pokémon thing?"

Keldeo sighed and shook his head. _"No, it's... a really long and depressing story."_

Rarity frowned, but she could tell Keldeo didn't want to talk about it. "Alright."

Keldeo appeared confused. _"That's it?"_ He asked. _"Most people press me for a little at least."_

"Oh perish the thought," Rarity waved her hoof, dismissing the notion. "If the topic is uncomfortable then I'm certainly not going to push you."

"_Oh... thank you."_

"Think nothing of it," Rarity smiled. "However I'm sure you have some family stories you're willing to tell, your family, at least the ones that I've met, seem to be quite an... interesting bunch."

"_Well,"_ Keldeo smirked. _"There is one story I've been dying to tell."_

"So let me get this straight," Rarity said. "This Heatran fellow tried to swim in a volcano?"

"_No, he can already do that, what he tried to do was make his own personal swimming pool of lava in an active volcano."_

"That seems like a terrible idea." Rarity commented.

"_Yeah, he actually caused an eruption, and he fell into the magma chamber so Groudon had to get him out."_

Rarity chuckled softly. "Well I hope no one was hurt."

Keldeo shook his head. _"Nah, Heatran and Groudon are immune to magma, and most of the wild Pokémon in the area could fly or dig, and the humans didn't stick around once the tremors started, plus,"_ He paused and looked around to make sure no one was within listening range. _"Most Pokémon know to clear the area when Heatran shows up."_

Rarity chuckled, she and Keldeo had been sharing stories for a while and she was beginning to enjoy the Pokémon's company, although there was one thing that was bothering her.

"Keldeo you haven't touched your tea, what's the matter? Not a fan?" She didn't mean anything by the question, she was just curious.

"_No, I have nothing against tea... although I've never really tried it, it's just... I can't really hold a cup."_ This left Rarity confused, then she took a closer look at Keldeo's hooves, unlike a pony's, his hooves were hard and shiny, and appeared to be non-malleable.

"Ohhh," Rarity exclaimed. "So sorry, I forgot you weren't actually a pony... I don't suppose your horn is anything like a Unicorns then?"

Keldeo sighed. _"Maybe the same material, but I can't use magic... I can't use Psychic either, or any moves that would help."_

"Hmm, maybe Twilight will be able to figure something out, after all, if the Pokémon are here to stay then I doubt they're going to be living in the woods like animals." She chuckled. "I don't think the Princesses would allow that."

"_Heh,"_ Keldeo looked up at the ceiling. _"You sound like a human I met once while we were checking in on someone, he didn't think it was fair that we got treated like that."_

"Well dear, from what Belle and the others have said it really wasn't," Rarity affirmed. "I assure you, most decent ponies wouldn't stand for other sapient beings being forced to live in the wild and being used for sport."

Keldeo sighed. _"That's actually really relieving to hear,"_ The Colt Pokémon glanced at the clock and saw that it was getting late. _"We talked for longer than I thought,"_ He noted. _"I should get going."_

Rarity looked at the clock. "I suppose so," Rarity got up and Keldeo did the same. "But this was actually rather enjoyable." She said, opening the door. "We should get together again sometime, I'm sure the girls would love to meet you."

Keldeo smiled as he trotted out of the boutique. _"I'd love to, I promise I'll drop by some time alright?"_

"I'll hold you to it." Rarity said with a smile, closing the door. As she did her grin grew even wider. Her talk with Keldeo had given her some ideas. "Pokémon fashion," She ran the idea over in her head as she made towards the kitchen. "Though I don't think many have a source of income... maybe I should start with the Legendaries?"

She figured she might as well do a few sketches, as well as brainstorm for Belle's wedding dress. "An actual challenge," She mused. "I do love a good challenge."

* * *

Several hours later

Equestria was in the grip of the night, although due to a recent influx of nocturnal creatures, it was much more active than it had been a few days prior. And while this had not gone unnoticed by the Princess of the Night, Luna had something else on her mind.

"Mayhaps I should have asked Tia for advice," Luna was pacing in her room, wondering how she was going to teach Darkrai proper control, assuming the Pitch-Black Pokémon showed up that is.

Luna shook her head. "Nay, the night and dreams are our domain, and I will teach Darkrai to control his powers, less an abomination worse than the Nightmare and Sombra come about." Darkness, Luna had long since discovered, was infectious, and if the Pokémon of Darkness could learn to control it, then Luna would be able to dream walk peacefully at night.

Luna glanced at the clock. "Almost eleven," She said. "I wonder if this is how Tia feels when waiting for Twilight... if Twilight were ever late that is."

Luna waited a few more minutes, fearing that Darkrai would refuse to come again, then she felt the temperature in the room drop, and, before her eyes, the shadows on the floor and walls began to come together, forming a pitch black spot in the center of the room. From this spot, Darkrai rose.

"_Greetings Princess Luna."_ The Dark-type greeted the lunar Alicorn with a bow.

"Hello Darkrai," Luna said in return. "I was beginning to think you were not coming."

Darkrai sighed. _"I almost didn't, even Lord Arceus has tried to quell my dark powers, and he couldn't do it without destroying them... and me, I fear this will just be a waste of your time."_

"Well it is my time to waste." Luna stated. "Now come, there is something I wish to show you."

Luna pushed the door to her room open and beckoned Darkrai to follow, the Legendary reluctantly followed after her.

As they walked, Darkrai noted that the guards were not the Pegasi he was used to, instead they had fangs and cat like eyes, as well as bat wings. _"Yours I presume?"_

Luna nodded. "Bat Ponies, up until my return they were spread thin across Equestria after my sister discharged the Lunar guard after my banishment." Normally Luna wouldn't mention her fall from grace, but, as she was trying to teach Darkrai control, she figured she may as well use an example. "Here we are."

Luna and Darkrai stopped at a pair of oaken doors, marked with Luna's Cutie Mark. _"What is this?"_Darkrai asked.

Luna smiled. "My personal wing of the royal library," She powered up her magic and the door swung open. "Where the scrolls and tomes relating to dream magic are held."

Darkrai floated into the room after Princess Luna, admiring the rows of dusty old scrolls. _"Interesting."_

"I know." Luna walked over to one of the shelves and pulled several books from it. "Here," She floated the books over to Darkrai. "While I prefer a more hooves on approach, a rudimentary knowledge of how dream magic, and magic as a whole functions will be necessary before we can really begin." Darkrai flipped open one of the books. "You are able to read the language correct?"

Darkrai was silent for a moment as he looked over the book. _"Yes, this is the same written language the humans used, I can understand it quite well."_

"Good," Luna nodded, glad that was one less thing she had to worry about. "Read the sections relating to use and control of magic, as well as dream magic, then we can begin."

Luna walked to the center of the room and pulled a pillow out from under one of the desks. "If you have any questions wake me, I'll be in the dreamscape."

With that, Luna laid her head on the pillow and faded to unconsciousness. Darkrai looked at his teacher in curiosity. _"I do not think that this is normal."_ He noted, remembering what Genesect had told him about his own training. _"But if there is a chance that this will help me..."_

Darkrai opened the first book and began reading.


	25. Chapter 23

As Celestia's sun rose over Ponyville, the citizens of the town began to rise, although a few had been awake for quite some time now.

"And that... should do it." Discord said, clapping his hands together as he looked over the spread he and Pinkie had just finished.

"It's perfect, Dissy." Pinkie said with a smile, hopping around one of the snack tables. "Our Mega Welcome to Ponyville Pokémon Party is ready." Pinkie pulled her checklist from her mane and drew a line through. Mega Welcome to Ponyville Pokémon Party.

"It was no trouble," Discord said with a grin. "I'm actually quite looking forward to this one." Discord had attended a few of Pinkie Pie's parties in the past, although because the majority of Equestria still didn't accept him he spent most of his time annoying Luna and Tia. But this party had the possibility to become the biggest chaos feast since Arceus showed up.

"Right, just make sure that no one ruins it until tonight, I gotta head over to Sugarcube Corner, my shift starts soon."

"Oh of course my dear." Discord snapped his talons and a large white sheet covered the entire area.

"Thanks Discord." Pinkie said as she trotted off.

Discord smiled, then turned back to the covered clearing, his grin growing wider. "Until tonight," He chuckled, hanging a, DO NOT DISTURB, sign over the tarp. "But until then, I best go check on Fluttershy. Come, Entropy." The Porygon-Z appeared next to Discord. "There's somepony I'd like you to meet."

* * *

In Equestria, things often go unexplained due to simply using the excuse "Magic." Often times they could be explained with a little research. For example, Arceus had inverted two or more separate dimensional plains and basically broken every law of physics that he wrote to bring the Pokémon to Equestria.

Another such phenomena was how the CMC's had not only managed to remain ungrounded after their escapade on the day Arceus arrived, but how they had managed to convince their families to allow them to keep the Pokémon they befriended, including one that was on fire. The answer to this... Magic.

"Scootaloo... why is that Pokémon on fire?" Sweetie Belle asked, meeting her friend's Pokémon for the first time.

"Beats me," Scootaloo shrugged. "But it doesn't really burn much."

"Well good." Apple Bloom stated. "Ah built this place and ah don't want ta see it burnt to the ground."

The three fillies, along with their new Pokémon, were in the CMC tree fort, the girls were discussing the Pokémon, while the Pokémon were playing with each other. In fact, they had acted as if they had already known each other when they arrived.

"So, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom began. "How did you meet, ehh..."

"Squirtle," Sweetie finished. "I met him while I was out shopping for Pinkie's party, he was hanging out in the river and I think he just wanted a friend."

"Squirtle!" Shouted the Water-type, possibly in affirmative.

"Char!"

"Saur!"

Apple Bloom looked to the Pokémon, all of whom were now sitting and watching them, wondering just what they were doing, she smiled at the little Pokémon. "Ya know, they are awfully cute."

"Yeah, not like some of the other's I've seen around." Sweetie Belle agreed.

"Pfft, speak for yourselves, Charmander isn't cute, he's awesome."

Apple Bloom giggled. "Oh come on Scoots, he's cute."

"Nuh uh." She shook her head. "He's a Dragon, Dragon's aren't cute."

"But this little guy is." Sweetie argued. "He's like an orange Spike, only less scaly and more adorable." Charmander blushed.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, deciding to move on. "Anyway we need to think of a new idea for our cutie marks, since the Cutie Mark Crusaders Party Ponies didn't work."

"Yeah, to bad too, that would've been awesome." Sweetie Belle lamented.

Apple Bloom didn't respond. Inwardly, she was busy mulling over an idea that she had gotten when she overheard Korrina talking the other day.

"Apple Bloom?" Sweetie asked. "You alright? You kinda zoned out there."

"Huh? Oh, ah'm fine, just thinkin' bout somethin'... You guys know what Korrina and Gene did back on Erf, or whatever it was?"

"Not really." Scootaloo answered.

"I thought Gene was a knight." Sweetie Belle added.

Apple Bloom looked at the unicorn. "Uhh... no, I heard Korrina and Lucario talkin' the other day, she mentioned somethin' about bein' a Pokémon Trainer."

"What's that?" Sweetie asked.

"Ah think it was a, uhh, a Hooman, that trained Pokémon." Apple Bloom tried to remember anything else.

"Trained them to do what exactly?" Scootaloo inquired.

"Ah don't know exactly, we can ask Korrina, Big Mac said she was headin' into town fer somethin'."

"I bet they train them to fight." Scootaloo answered. "Like when Belle beat up those giant bugs!"

"Ya mean the ones who kinda work for Sweet Apple Acres now? Yeah, ah was thinkin' that too."

"But these guys are just _sooo_ cute!" Sweetie Belle said, hugging Squirtle. "And I don't want little Squirtle to get hurt."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "They don't need to actually _hurt_ each other Sweetie Belle; it'll be like... like... like martial arts!"

"We tried that already." Apple Bloom winced as she recalled the bruises.

"No, we tried learning martial arts, teaching them is totally different, and this isn't actually martial arts," Scootaloo smiled. "It's Pokémon using crazy moves to fight each other!"

"I don't really like fighting." Sweetie Belle admitted.

Scootaloo didn't stop smiling. "And that's the beauty of this. You really think Gene just went around having Belle attack other Pokémon for fun?"

"No." Sweetie Belle answered.

"So our goal is just to make our Pokémon stronger in case they _need_ to fight." Scootaloo finished.

"Ya know what? Ah like it." Apple Bloom said. "We might need help from someone who actually trained Pokémon though."

"I guess if you guys are in, and Squirtle and the others agree to it, then... I guess its ok." Sweetie Belle still wasn't entirely sure.

The fillies turned to their Pokémon. "So, what do you guys think?" Scootaloo asked. "Want to try Pokémon training?"

"Squirtle!"

"Char!"

"Bulbasaur!"

The three answered, smiling.

"I guess that's a yes." Scootaloo figured. "Now come on, on three." She stuck her hoof out and Sweetie and Apple Bloom did the same. "One," She began.

"Two," Sweetie Belle added.

"Three."

"**Cutie Mark Crusaders Pokémon Trainers!"**

* * *

Korrina shivered as she felt a chill run down her spin. "Everything alright Korrina?" Lucario asked, noticing her discomfort.

"Yeah, just a little chill is all."

Korrina and Lucario were in Sugarcube Corner, waiting for Pinkie to show up with some drinks. The party pony had suggested that they stop by, possibly so she could get their birthday's, and the Lucario's had had no reason to refuse.

Lucario sighed at seeing the state she was in. He could see Korrina's sadness, no matter how hard she tried to hide it since he was just too familiar with her aura for it to work. As he watched the swirling blue pool of energy that made up his trainer, he considered just how... odd, it had become. Before, there was an obvious difference between a human's aura and a Pokémon's, like looking at a soda and a lemonade. Now... now it was as if someone had mixed said soda and lemonade together. To be honest, Lucario had expected the changes to continue happening until her aura fully became that of a Pokémon. However, oddly enough, halfway through the second day, when Korrina's aura was about fifty percent human - fifty percent Pokémon, it just...stopped.

It wasn't detrimental in anyway that he could tell, but it was very unusual.

"Sorry for the wait guys," Pinkie said, interrupting the Pokémon's thoughts. "I had to show Slurpuff where the cherries were."

"... What?" Korrina asked.

"Yeah, after I kinda tried to eat him I let him stay here and he just started baking after I left, and since the sweets he made were pretty tasty, the cakes hired him as a baker slash mascot." She slid two glasses of water in front of them. "And don't worry, these are on the house."

Before they could ask another question, Pinkie Pie sped off. "She's... different." Lucario commented. "And her aura is..." As Lucario turned to Korrina he was surprised to see her slumped in her seat, her head on the table. "Korrina?"

She looked up at him, with a sad puppy look that he wasn't sure she knew she was doing. "I just realized, or it just hit me... I don't have a job anymore... I'm..." Her voice cracked. "I'm not a Gym Leader anymore."

Lucario didn't know what to say, Korrina's one and only goal in life, ever since he had met her, was to be a great trainer. She didn't want to be champion, she always said it came with too many duty's, she just wanted to run her gym like only she could... and that had been torn away from her.

"Korrina..." He began. "I... I get how you're feeling but... you're still a trainer."

"No I'm not, I'm-"

"You're still _my_ trainer."

Korrina stopped and sat up. "But I'm not-"

"What? A human anymore?" He shook his head. "No, you're not, but I don't care. I'm going to stay by your side no matter what, and besides," He took a sip of his drink. "Your aura isn't that of a Pokémon. It's more of a mixture of human and Pokémon, and it stopped changing two days ago."

"R-really?" She asked.

Lucario nodded. "Your aura is what makes you... you, and even Lord Arceus can't take that from you… at least not completely."

Korrina smiled. "Thanks Lucario," She frowned. "But I still don't know what I'm gonna do with myself. I don't feel comfortable just sitting around, waiting for something to happen."

"We'll figure something out," Lucario assured her. "Or maybe the Princesses will convince Arceus to turn you back."

"Yeah," Korrina sighed. "Maybe."

Korrina sighed again and made to take a sip of her water as the door to sugarcube corner swung open. "Hey Korrina," Dash flew over to the table. "You know if Twi and Juniper are back yet? I wanna ask them something."

Korrina shrugged. "I don't know."

"Twi's train'll be here in about forty minutes." Pinkie answered, popping up beside Dash. "I checked the train schedule."

"Cool," Dash looked around the restaurant. "Man, this place is empty." It was true; Korrina and Lucario were currently the only customers in the restaurant.

"Yeah, Time Turner was in here a little while ago, but that's about it, I've just been in the kitchen, teaching a Meringue how to bake." Pinkie sighed. "I think everypony is still afraid of the Pokémon.

"Or at least the dangerous looking ones." Dash added.

"Yeah," Pinkie agreed sadly, a frown flickering on her face before she lit up again. "But that's what tonight's party is for! So that everyone gets to know each other."

Dash chuckled. "Sounds great Pinkie, just... don't get your hopes up too high, I don't want you to get depressed if something goes wrong."

"Silly Dashie, this is a Pinkie party, nothing ever goes wrong there," Her smile got even wider. "And I even got Discord and the Crusaders helping me, just to be safe."

The moment Pinkie Pie said that, the color drained from Rainbow Dash's face so quickly that Korrina thought she'd seen a Gengar.

"Anyway, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Pinkie said as she trotted off.

Lucario raised an eyebrow at Dash's shell shocked appearance. "Are you alright, Miss Dash?"

"Y-yeah, just... thinking." Dash was now thinking if she should consider moving her house somewhere else. She heard that Hoofrica was nice this time of year.

"Soo," Korrina began, hoping to snap the Pegasus out of... whatever it was she was in. "What was up in Cloudsdale?"

Dash shook her head to clear her mind. "Oh, some magnet, robot, Pokémon, moved into the factory,"

"Magnemite?" Korrina asked.

"Yeah, they were actually kinda... nice isn't really the word... understanding would be more like it. After that..." Dash winced. "That was when the trouble started."

Dash explained what had happened to her after she left the factory, what had happened with the Weezing, the hospital, and how she had gone to the mountain and her encounter with the Charizard who saved her.

"He apparently use to be human too, although he seemed to want to be left alone for the most part," Dash shrugged. "Offered to help if we needed anything though, so yeah, he was pretty cool."

Lucario nodded. "So," He asked. "What was his name?"

"He said his name was Red."

At that moment, Korrina, who had been taking a sip of her water at the time, immediately did a spit take. "Red?!" She sputtered. "Are you absolutely positive that's his name?!"

"Yeah." Rainbow answered. "You know him?"

"Know him?" She asked. "I don't think there's anyone on Earth who doesn't know him. He's Red, a legendary trainer, and the undefeated Kanto Champion!"

"Uhh... what does that mean exactly? You guys have been saying stuff like that, but I don't really know what it means."

Lucario, who had fallen silent when Rainbow Dash answered his question, looked up at her and said. "Champions are the most powerful trainers on the planet. There are only a few of them, but they are basically some of the most powerful and influential people in the world."

"Oh." Was all that Dash could say. Suddenly she was starting to see why she had felt intimidated when she was talking to Red.

"And their Pokémon..." Lucario continued, before he shook his head. "It's possible they're strong enough to take out some of the Legendary Pokémon...though none of the ones on Arceus' level, but maybe..."

"You've seen what Belle was capable of right?" Korrina asked, earning a nod from the Pegasus. "Well, the Kalos champion Dianthia has a Gardevoir as her team's powerhouse, and Belle's got nothing on Diantha's Gardevoir... I've seen her in battle before; it was over before it even began."

"Huh," Dash said. "Well, Red seemed pretty cool."

"I bet," Korrina mumbled under her breath, despite everything, she couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous that Rainbow Dash had actually met Red. Almost no one had met Red, and even the other champions had only met him a few times, all of which were fleeting at best, since Red was known to be a very reclusive champion. .

After a while, Dash excused herself, saying she had some cloud clearing to do and leaving the pair alone in the mostly empty bakery.

"Red." Lucario said, shaking his head.

Korrina just nodded. "Red."

* * *

It was almost noon when the train from Appeloosa pulled into Ponyville station. As the doors opened, most of the passengers scrambled out, looks of relief on their faces.

Applejack trotted out of the car and watched as they ran off.

"Wonder what's got them worked up?" Gene asked.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe riding a train with a Dragon, a hell hound and a walking sword rack?"

"Oh..." Gene looked back as Fang plodded off the train, and Draco squeezed through the door frame. "Maybe."

Belle laughed as she made her way to her partner. "Well come on," She said, grabbing his hand. "I wanna talk to Rarity about-"

"Excuse me?" Gene and Belle looked up to see a Pidgeot hovering over them. "Are you Gene and Belle?"

"Yeah," Gene answered. "And you are?"

"Falkner. Sorry, but Twilight wanted me to find you. She said she wanted to see you two at her library as soon as you got back."

"Did she say why?" Belle asked.

"No, though it may have something to do with... never mind. She just wants to see you two, so now if you'll excuse me..." Falkner flew off and rejoined Pidgeot who had landed on the roof of the train station.

"So... I guessing that was the Violet City Gym Leader." Belle ventured.

"Probably." Gene agreed. "What do you think Twilight wants?"

"No idea, but let's just get this out of the way."

"Couldn't agree more." Gene whistled and Fang and Draco were at his side. "Guys, Belle and I have to go see Princess Twilight. You can come if you want, but try not to cause any trouble." Gene eyed Fang and the Houndoom just gave a look of, 'I would never'.

Belle turned to Applejack and smiled. "Thanks for your help Applejack."

Applejack scoffed. "Didn't really do much sugarcube, ya'll are the ones who stopped that steel thing, and the sandstorm."

"That may be true," Belle conceded. "But you helped convince the sheriff that we weren't monsters."

Applejack kicked the ground with one hoof, stirring up some dust. "Ah still feel bad 'bout how I treated ya when-"

"Water under the bridge." Belle assured her. "We'll see you around."

With that the Pokémon began making their way towards the library, while Applejack just smiled as she made her way back home.

As the four Pokémon made their way through town, they noticed two things. One, the Pokémon were starting to get more comfortable, and two, the towns ponies weren't. The group drew a lot of looks from the ponies they passed, and some of them seemed more angry or scared rather than curious.

"_Come on, we can't be the weirdest thing they've ever seen right?"_ Gene asked Belle.

Belle sighed. _"I think it's more that they know we're from another world."_

Nothing eventful happened on the way over, a soon they found themselves at the library. "Twilight?" Gene knocked. "Falkner said you needed to see us?"

There was the sound of whispering inside and a moment later Twilight opened the door. "Hi Belle, hi Gene, how was...?" Her eyes widened as she noticed Draco standing behind them.

"Twilight, this is Draco," Gene introduced. "Draco, this is Princess Twilight."

"Greetings Princess." Draco said with a bow.

Twilight, despite her confusion, said. "Uh... just Twilight is fine." She stared at the Flygon for another few seconds before collecting herself. "Right, there are some things we need to discuss."

Twilight stepped out of the way to let them in, as they entered the library they were greeted by Juniper floating by a bookshelf, doing some reading, and a Blaziken and a Delphox.

Once everyone was inside Twilight shut the door. "Twilight?" Belle asked. "Who's this?"

Twilight chuckled nervously. "This is May and Blaziken...May use to be-"

"Human too," Gene finished. "But why are they here?" Normally Gene wouldn't have asked, at least not so curtly, but something in his mind was telling him something wasn't right.

"I wanted to talk to you." May answered. "About... everything that's happened."

Gene raised an eyebrow but sat down at the table in the center of the library, across from May, Belle sitting next to him. "What did you want to talk about?" He asked somewhat cautiously.

May took a deep breath and prepared herself. "I know you went to see Arceus with a few others," She looked between the pair. "And that you two are... together."

Gene prepared for her to call him sick, or something, but instead she continued. "And I wanted to ask... what _exactly_ did Arceus say when... did you say Korrina? Asked to be made human again?"

Gene was surprised at the questions but after a second, he answered. "He said... he said that these bodies were...something in our spirit that he enhanced, about being-"

"No," May held up a paw to stop him. "I meant why he won't turn anyone back."

"He said that humans caused problems." Twilight added. "And that he didn't want to take any chances," She tapped her chin. "Though since the ones he brought are the... the ones he deemed worthy I wonder what he's afraid of, maybe if your kids or grandkids didn't turn out so great? But I always thought personality was more nurture than nature, and honestly you have both going for you here."

Twilight noticed that everyone was staring at her now. "What?" She asked. Juniper chuckled.

Gene smiled and turned back to May, he noticed the Delphox didn't seem very happy. "So what you're telling me is," She began. "Is that Arceus did this to prevent what _might_ happen?"

Twilight replayed her speech in her mind. "I... I guess? I'm sure it's more complicated than that though."

"Yeah," May glared at Gene and Belle. "Complicated." May got up from the table and made her way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

May turned back to her, sadness now clear on her face. "To see an old friend, someone who I can talk to."

With that she left the tree. Blaziken sighed. "She'll be alright," He assured. "She'll be upset for a while but trust me, that girl's tough, she'll either pull through this or figure out how to fix it."

"Aren't you gonna go after her?" Belle asked.

He shook his head. "Right now, May just needs to clear her head, at the moment I'd just get in the way." He sighed again. "Honestly I think this is just becoming too much for her, especially after how much she was preparing for the Hoenn Grand festival..." The Blaze Pokémon sighed, honestly disappointed as well. "We really had a shot this year too..."

* * *

Misty stared at her reflection in the river near Fluttershy's cottage, or what she was told was her reflection, since she still wasn't entirely sure this wasn't a dream.

Misty had come outside to be alone, as Fluttershy's house was crowded with Pokémon and animals, especially those three little Eevee's who just wouldn't leave her alone. Plus Discord was there and Misty really needed some peace and quiet.

She held a paw to her face, poking at the fins sprouting from either side of her head, tugging at the collar around her neck. "Gene and Korrina are lucky," She said to herself. "They're at least vaguely human still." Misty had never really been hung up on her looks, growing up with three sisters all of whom were said to be, 'the most beautiful girls in Kanto' had made her more of a tomboy, and she was glad for that, but still, she missed... everything, about her old self.

"I wonder what happened to Daisy and the others," Misty asked. "They definitely aren't bad people, just kind of vain." Misty didn't know what to do on that front, her sisters had, surprise, surprise, gone on yet another cruise a month before to celebrate... Misty wasn't exactly sure what.

"Ugg!" Misty plopped down on her back, staring up at the sky. "I wish some of the others were here," She lamented, thinking about her old friends. "I'm sure they would know what to do," She smiled. "Especially A-"

"Misty?"

Misty sat up and looked towards the voice; she was surprised to see a Delphox standing there. "Yes?" She answered.

The Fire-type smiled. "It's good to see you again."

Misty was about to ask just who this Pokémon was but before she could she noticed a familiar bandana wrapped around the Fox's head. "May?" She asked in disbelief.

The Delphox nodded. "Long time no see huh?"

Misty just nodded. "Yeah I... I can't believe you're here. I mean, here in Ponyville. Of course you'd have been brought here too."

May smiled and sat down next to Misty, a smirk appeared on her face as she did. "You know I always thought we'd meet again someday but I never thought it'd be like this."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. At least you still have fingers! Look at this!" She held up her paw. "How am I supposed to hold anything with these?"

May laughed and wiggled her thumbs teasingly. For a while the two just sat by the river side and talked, catching up, but mostly just anything to keep their minds off the current events.

Eventually they just sat and watched the clouds roll by. "May?" Misty finally said.

"Yeah?"

"Just... thanks for talking with me, I needed someone who'd understand and Korrina gets it but... I'm just glad you're here."

May smiled. "Why do you think I came looking for you? As soon as I heard that you were here I figured you'd need someone to talk to, and honestly? So did I."

Misty smiled, grateful that she had someone she could really talk to. May felt the same, but something crept into her mind and she smirked. "Although I bet you'd feel a _lot_ better if a certain _someone_ was here."

Misty's blush was painfully obvious on her light blue skin. "I... I don't know what you're talking about." She denied.

May rolled her eyes. "Oh really? Not even As-"

"Misty!" The Pokémon looked up and saw Fluttershy standing in the door of her cottage. "S-sorry, Pinkie's party is starting in a few hours. Discord just told me and I thought I'd let you know."

Misty just sighed. She wasn't really in the mood for a party, but if half the things Fluttershy told her were true, then the Party Pony wouldn't take no for an answer. "Thanks Fluttershy." Misty noticed that the Pegasus was staring at May. "Oh, this is my friend, May. I knew her back on Earth."

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, that's just wonderful," Fluttershy had noticed that Misty had seemed down lately. "If you two need anything just come and ask."

Misty nodded. "Thanks Shy."

With that Fluttershy went back into her cottage, leaving Misty and May alone once again. As Misty looked up at the Fire-type she noticed a small grin on her face, when she asked her about it May just said. "So, there's a party tonight?"


	26. Chapter 24

Juniper stared at the book before her. It was a simple book in her opinion, a short history on modern medical treatments, but the Pokémon Professor didn't want it for reading.

"Ok... just focus." She held one arm out towards the book. "Focus."

Despite her attempts, the book refused to move. "Oh come on," She floated over to the table and grabbed the book in her hand. "I've seen Psychic-types do this a hundred times before."

After Belle and Gene had left for Rarity's, Twilight had almost immediately started reshelving the books still out of order since tuesday. Juniper had watched the Alicorn levitating the books around like they were nothing and decided she wanted to try her hand at telekinesis. Easier said than done apparently.

Juniper put the book back down and tapped her chin. "Let's see, I managed to use Psychic in Trottingham, maybe I can do that again." Juniper moved a safe distance from the table and focused on the book once again. "Ok, here goes..." She stretched out her arm and called out. "Psychic!"

The book responded this time, by flying forward and hitting her in the head. "Ouch!" Juniper glared angrily at the book now lying on the floor.

Twilight, who was sitting atop a pile of books, sorting them as she went, turned to Juniper. "What are you doing?" She asked.

Juniper sighed and picked the book up. "Trying to figure out how to use my powers." She tossed it back onto the table. "So far it's not going so well."

Twilight picked the book up in her magic and floated it over to her. "How does the whole... psychic thing work anyway?"

"Psychic Pokémon have highly amplified brain power," She began. "It's mostly used for telekinesis and telepathy, but mind control isn't uncommon either." She thought for a second. "And some Pokémon are said to have clairvoyant abilities."

"Wait, you mean seeing the future?" Twilight asked in surprise. She had found a few spells for future sight in the ancient castle before, but they were all crazily complex and most were incomplete. To hear that some Pokémon were able to do it naturally was quite a surprise.

"Yeah, but it isn't good for long time predictions, they're mostly used, in battle at least, to see what move's coming next."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Does everything in your world have to do with battles?"

Juniper laughed. "No. In fact, there are a few groups who are opposed to the entire capture and battle thing."

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Oh yes, the biggest was a group called Team Plasma back home in Unova. They had a huge campaign a while back. In fact, it looked like they were really trying to change things for the better, or what they believed was the better."

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Their leader turned out to be a psycho bent on ruling the world and keeping all the Pokémon for himself." Juniper answered, turning back to her book.

Twilight's eyes widened and her mouth hung open. "What!?" Juniper looked over to her shocked friend.

"A Pokémon rights group turned out to be an evil organization bent on ruling the world and they ruined all the real Pokémon rights groups credibility in the process." She shrugged. "It wasn't the worst thing that's happened."

"Not the... what? Did some evil entity escape their prison and try to destroy the world?" Twilight was pulling ideas from personal experience, although she had a feeling it wouldn't work.

"No," Juniper answered flatly. "One group in Sinnoh tried to use the Creation Trio to destroy the universe and remake it in their image." That brought something to Juniper's mind. "Actually, I wonder what happened to that guy. The few witnesses said that Giratina sucked him into the Reverse World."

At this point Juniper saw the expression on Twilight's face, if she hadn't recognized the look of horror, she would have thought it was funny. "Uhhh, Twilight, I think that's enough about my world for now." _Glad I didn't mention Cipher or Flare._ She thought to herself. "Why don't you-"

Juniper was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Hold that thought." Twilight trotted off of her book mound and over to the door. She opened the door and opened it, greeting. "Hello and Welcome to... hello?"

Twilight looked around but saw no one at the door. "Darn pranksters." She grumbled as she closed the door. "Sorry Juniper what were you..." As soon as Twilight turned around she saw something wrapped around her book pile like a great Dragon around a treasure hoard.

"Hello Twilight," Discord greeted. "Don't mind me, just catching up on some reading."

Twilight rolled her eyes, ignoring him. For whatever reason the Chaos spirit seemed to enjoy messing with her more than anyone else, except for possibly Celestia.

Juniper, on the other hand, floated over to Discord, finding the serpent rather interesting. "So Discord," She began. "What brings you here?"

"Oh this and that," he waved his paw back and forth. "Mostly stuff for Pinkie's party," He snapped his fingers. "Oh! It's in an hour or two by the way."

"Discord," Twilight began, looking at the book he was reading. "Why do you need..." She read the title. "Advanced Magic Spells for traveling tourist?"

"Oh you know," He answered. "Such and such."

"What does that mean?" Twilight pressed.

"Party things." He answered. "And if you're going to pester me about it I'll go read in the park." He slammed the book shut and pulled something from his pocket. "I'll be checking this out."

Twilight looked at the card and scowled. "This is my card. Discord how-?" But the Draconequus was already gone.

"Great." Twilight grimaced, she floated her book mound into a few piles and sighed. "I'm, going to the park, I think it's about time to figure out what exactly those two are planning."

"Is that safe?" Juniper asked. "From what you told me, having Pinkie Pie and Discord together seems like a recipe for disaster."

"Yeah I know, but if I don't go Pinkie will come and get me, and that's never pretty." She shuttered. "Besides, Pinkie's parties are fun, and if anypony can improve Pokémon-Pony relations through a party, it'll be Pinkie."

Juniper shrugged and floated towards the door. "Might as well."

Twilight smiled. "Spike!" She called. "Pinkie's party is in an hour! Don't forget!"

A muffled response came from upstairs, which Twilight took as an affirmative. "Alright," She said. "Let's go."

* * *

Discord stood at the edge of the clearing he and Pinkie had set the party up in, reading a few pages from the book he "borrowed".

"Seems simple enough." He snapped the book shut. "Now lets see if this works." To cast a spell, Discord usually just had to snap his fingers and it happened. Unfortunately, some of the more normal spells had a way of getting away from him, and often in weird and chaotic ways. So, despite his instincts telling him to go with it and see what happens, Discord was doing something he rarely ever did. He was casting an ordered spell.

Fortunately it still only took a snap of his fingers for it to be done. "Now that that's over with," He leaned back in the air and teleported Twilight's book back to her library. "I can just relax until the party."

"Hey Discord!"

"So much for that idea." Discord looked up to see a familiar Rainbow maned Pegasus hovering above him.

"What'd you just do?" Rainbow crossed her forelegs.

"Why nothing my dear Dashie," Discord said with a grin. "Just setting everything up for the party." Discord noted the look of horror that flashed across Dash's face. "Everything alright?"

"Ye-yeah," Dash answered. "So what's the plan for this party anyway? Did Pinkie invite every Pokémon from here to Canterlot?" She chuckled softly.

"No, she decided that would be too much. Of course, she did have some invitations put up in the Everfree."

Dash raised her eyebrow. "Pinkie put invitations up in the Everfree?"

"No, no, no, not Pinkie." Dash calmed down slightly. "She had Scootaloo do it." And blood pressure spike.

"You let a filly go into the Everfree by herself?!" Dash shouted. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Discord rolled his eyes. "A.) Don't ask questions you don't wanna know the answer to. 2.) It was Pinkie's idea, not mine. And FYI, Scootaloo got a new pet out of it, so no harm done."

Dash was going to press the issue more, but at that moment Pinkie Pie bounced up. "Hi Discord, hi Dashie." Dash noticed that Pinkie seemed even more excited than normal.

Dash quickly looked around at the various tables covered in food, the stage and speakers, and what looked like a dance floor set up in the clearing. "You really went all out on this one huh?"

"You have no idea Dash," Pinkie Pie giggled and zipped over to one of the desert tables. "I depleted my party stocks for the next week for this baby," Pinkie smiled and hopped over to the stage. "Everything I know about parties, ponies, and Pokémon went into this one, and..." She was back with Dash and Discord now. "This is going to be, my biggest. Party. Yet."

Dash didn't know whether to smile... or run away. The last time Pinkie had gotten this serious about a party... _My birthaversary... maybe._

"And I'm so glad that Discord and the girls helped me out. I don't know how I would've gotten everything done in time if they didn't, especially since there's no way I could've carried everything down from Canterlot myself."

That pulled Dash from her train of thought. "Wait... Pinkie? What did you do?"

Pinkie stared at her friend blankly and started backing up, she continued to walk backwards until she was at one of the tables still covered by a sheet. Pinkie kicked the table and the cloth slid off to reveal...

"Pinkie... did you-"

"Borrow the castles meat supply?" Pinkie asked. "Yep."

"For Pokémon like Gene's dog?"

"Uh huh."

Dash turned to her friend. "Where'd you even learn to cook meat anyway?"

"Gustav taught me, after the MMM disaster." Pinkie said with a smile.

Before Dash could say anything else, someone called from behind her. "Discord!" The ponies, and Draconequus turned to see Twilight rushing towards them, with Juniper floating behind her.

"Hi Twilight! Hi Juniper!" Pinkie waved.

"Hi Pinkie," Twilight offered, then she turned to the object of her annoyance. "Discord." She began. "What are you planning?"

Discord smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Why nothing, Twilight," He assured the Alicorn. "I'm just making sure that everything will go perfect for Pinkie's party."

Pinkie smiled but Twilight wasn't so sure. "Then what'd you need that book for?"

The lord of chaos just grinned and said. "That's my little surprise." Before flashing out of existence.

* * *

Pinkie stood on the path leading to town, greeting ponies as they arrived.

Twilight has spent the last hour searching for Discord but her search had come up fruitless and now guests were arriving. As such, Twilight was nervous while Pinkie was excited.

The only thing that had Pinkie worried was that almost no Pokémon had shown up. Sure, the CMC were here with their Pokémon, and Korrina and Misty and Juniper and May and Falkner were around with their Pokémon, and Zap was napping in Pinkie's mane, but Pinkie _knew_ that there should be more.

"Hi Pinkie." Pinkie looked up to see Gene smiling before her with Belle at his side, as well as Fang and Draco.

"Hi Gene, hi Belle, hi Fang, hi... Huh!" Pinkie gasped and rushed forward, staring Draco right in his ruby tinted eyes. "I don't know you yet, hi I'm Pinkie Pie, and you are?"

The Flygon blinked in confusion. "My name is Draco, pleased to meet you Miss Pie."

"You can call me Pinkie," She smiled and turned to Gene. "Is he another one of your Pokémon?"

Gene nodded. "Found him in Appeloosa. He's a Flygon by the way." Pinkie nodded and after talking for a few more minutes the group entered the party, Pinkie still standing guard for any guests.

Pinkie stood waiting for a good half hour, and while many ponies showed up, only a few more Pokémon had arrived, most accompanying a Pony or two.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash landed next to her friend. "Remember what I said about not getting your hopes up?"

Pinkie Pie bit her lip but nodded.

Dash sighed and put a wing around her. "It's alright Pinkie, pretty much everypony from town is here, and there are a few Pokémon so-"

"Excuse me?" Pinkie and Dash both turned to see a large green and very regal looking snake coming down the path. "Is this where the celebration is being held?"

Pinkie's grin nearly split her face. "Yepperoni, this is the place."

The Serperior nodded. "Much obliged." And snaked his way past the mares.

"See Dashie?' Pinkie asked. "I told you they'd come."

Dash rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if that'll scare Twilight."

Pinkie giggled and looked down the path, still waiting. "You're going to stand here all night now aren't you?" Dash asked.

"No. Just until more of the guests arrive." In Pinkie's party rule book, it was important for the host to always be there to greet the guests, unless the guests preferred to be fashionably late.

Dash just shook her head and took off, heading back over to the main crowd.

* * *

"Twilight?"

"Yes Rarity?"

"Were you expecting this big of a turn out?"

Twilight looked around at the various ponies and Pokémon attending the party. "Honestly? I never know what to expect at these anymore."

Not long after most of the townsfolk had arrived, the Pokémon had started showing up, and while some were a bit frightening, like the praying mantis creature Misty had called a Scizor, there hadn't been any complications or altercations so far. But there was something off about the whole thing. Something that Twilight just couldn't put her hoof on.

Twilight watched as a group of foals talked and played with some of the smaller Pokémon, before Twilight realized something. "They can... understand them?" She asked out loud.

"Oh goody." An all too familiar voice said from beneath her.

Twilight looked down to see Discord lying flat, as in paper thin, against the ground beneath her hooves. "Eek!" Rarity notice as well.

Discord peeled himself off the ground and blew himself up. "It's about time you figured it out."

"Wait," Twilight's eyes narrowed. "_You_ did this?"

"But of course," The Draconequus said with a bow. "I used a translation spell from that book of yours and layered it around the party."

"That... was actually smart thinking." Twilight admitted, slightly shocked.

"Well don't act so surprised." Discord scoffed. "Now I'm going to go meet the new locals, if you need anything, I'm sure Pinkie already thought of it."

As Discord floated off, Twilight began to really look around. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"This is turning out better than I expected." Rarity admitted. "Pinkie Pie really out did herself with this one."

Twilight smiled and was about to say something when something tugged on her leg. She turned to see Spike looking up at her, worry clear on his face. "What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Twi," He began. "Look who just crashed the party." He pointed towards where Pinkie had been greeting guests earlier.

Twilight followed his finger to see that. "Oh ponyfeathers."

* * *

_"I'm serious dad."_ Mew warned. _"Don't intimidate anyone this time."_

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"How is it my fault if I'm intimidating?"_ He asked.

Uxie scoffed. _"You literally made a public announcement to every being on the planet. Last I checked, cosmic interdimensional God just SCREAMS 'intimidating'."_

Arceus said nothing. The Alpha Pokémon hadn't originally planned on coming to this party, but his daughters had talked him into it.

As he walked into the party, he wondered just how everything was going to play out. A fair number of the legendaries were actually attending, although not all showing up at once. He knew Xerneas, Diancie, Articuno, Cresselia, Latias (which meant her brother would come too), and a fair number of others were planning on coming.

His sons, unfortunately, would not be coming, nor would Yveltal, Groudon, Rayquaza, Regigigas, and some of the other more introverted Legendaries.

Mewtwo was still up in Canterlot and Suicune, whom Arceus had recently checked in on, was hunting down Ice Spirits up north, so neither was able to attend. Cresselia had said she would try to convince Darkrai to come but Arceus had his doubts.

"Arceus!" The Alpha Pokémon was pulled from his thoughts as a rather chipper voice called his name. "I'm so, so, so glad you could make it." Pinkie said,hopping up to and hugging the Legendary.

_"Hello Miss Pie."_ He greeted.

"Call me Pinkie." She stated.

Arceus chuckled. _"Very well... Pinkie, You remember my daughters, Uxie, Azelf, Mesprit and Mew, and my granddaughter, Celebi."_

"I remember seeing them at the temple," Pinkie started looking around, as if she had misplaced something. "But where are your big dragon-y son's, and your gooey friend?"

_"Deoxys should be by later on, but my son's will not be in attendance tonight."_ Arceus explained.

Pinkie pouted for a moment, then smiled again. "Well, that's alright, I'll just have to welcome them to Equus another time."

Arceus smiled but before he could respond Twilight galloped up to him. "Lord Arceus." She greeted.

_"Princess Twilight."_ He bowed his head slightly.

Pleasantries out of the way, Twilight glared at the Alpha Pokémon. "What are you doing here? You're gonna freak everyone out!"

_Why does everyone assume that?_ Arceus asked himself. _"I haven't attended a party in over three thousand years. Plus, I'm meeting someone here and my children wanted me to come."_

Twilight groaned. "Fine, but don't try anything funny, or else-"

_"Or else what?"_ Arceus asked devilishly.

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she tried to think of a good threat. "Or else I'll tell Princess Celestia."

Arceus chuckled. _"I promise I will not harm anyone at this party, will that suffice?"_

Twilight begrudgedly accepted Arceus' promise and walked away, doing a quick, 'I'm watching you' signal as she did.

_"Well since that's out of the way,"_ Mesprit said. _"I'm going to go have some fun!"_ Mesprit shot off, followed quickly by Azelf and Uxie.

_"And I have to go find somepony,"_ Celebi excused herself. _"Pretty sure he's around here."_

Mew turned to her father, who was still watching as the party went on. The Psychic-type rolled her eyes and grabbed her father. _"Come on dad, time to meet your subjects."_

* * *

After the Pokémon got over the shock of their creator attending the party, which took up all of Pinkie's planned ten minute shock break, things returned to how they had been at the start, although most Pokémon steered clear of Arceus.

` Gene, who was at the snack bar with Belle, was surprised that so many Legendaries had shown up. He had just seen Victini and Jirachi fly in and was watching Hoopa stuff cupcakes and brownies into her rings.

'Gene?" Belle suddenly spoke up. "Would you like to dance?" She motioned to the dance floor set up in the center of the clearing.

Gene smiled. "Sure." Belle didn't normally go for anything other than slow songs, but Gene knew that she could do more than waltz.

As the pair made their way to the dance floor, Gene felt a chill run up his neck, and got the strangest feeling he was being watched.

Sensing his discomfort, Belle stopped. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm not sure," Gene looked around, trying to find the source. Maybe some Ghost-types just showed up. Other than Pinkie's Rotom and Hoopa, Gene hadn't seen any Ghost Pokémon, although that didn't mean they weren't around. "I think..."

Gene paused as the area around him and Belle seemed to darken, cutting them off from the rest of the party. Belle quickly took up a defensive stance as her eyes began to glow blue. "Hear me spirit," She warned. "If you seek to harm me or my mate-"

Belle was cut off as a high cackle sounded from all around them, followed by a feminine voice saying. "Oh come now Belle," A purple figure solidified in front of the pair as the darkness around them receded. "Is that any way to talk to a friend?"

Gene stared in disbelief at the Mismagius. "Mage?"

"The one and only." The Ghost-type did a little mid-air flip. "And how have you two been? I've been fine. Met this nice Zebra in that weird forest. Fortunately, I managed to get the message that I wasn't an evil spirit through to her before-Yahh!"

Mage was interrupted as her trainer pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad you're alright Mage."

The Magical Pokémon smiled and phased through the Gallade's arms. "Aww, you don't need to worry about little old me." She grinned. "Now come on, I wanna introduce you two to Zecora."

As Gene and Belle followed after Mage, Gene whistled, calling Fang and Draco over to them, and smiled, glad to be getting his family back together.

* * *

Pinkie Pie was buzzing with excitement. Her party had turned out even better than expected, what with Arceus bringing most of his family with. Although she was still a bit upset that the rest of them didn't come, she decided that it didn't matter, and just hoped that she had enough decorations for the Hall of Legends.

She had even made progress in her future party planning, as while she was introducing herself to everyone she met Shaymin, and after they talked for a while, Pinkie found out that the little Legendary could cause plants to grow, including ones from Earth.

Pinkie had a little bag of Oran Berries in her mane, and she knew quite a few ponies who were gifted gardeners, since she had a feeling she was going to need more.

Pinkie knew that the party couldn't last forever though, and nearing midnight ponies were starting to head home, mostly just the ones with foals, but still.

Pinkie was interrupted as her tail started spinning, meaning that someone was late for the party.

Pinkie quickly zipped over to the entrance with a smile on her face. "Hi there." She greeted the late arrivals, which turned out to be four Pokémon: a Hitmontop, and a Medicham, with a Minun and a Plusle on their respective shoulders. "I'm Pinkie Pie. You're a little late, but the party's still going."

The Pokémon blinked at her in shock. "You're... not afraid?" The Medicham asked, Pinkie noted that it sounded female.

"Nah!" Pinkie said. "If I was going to be afraid of a Pokémon, it'd be Draco, or Fang, or Scizor, or Arceus, or Seth, or-"

"I'm Lunick by the way," The Hitmontop interrupted. "And this is Minun."

"And I'm Solana and this," The Medicham scratched the Plusle's chin. "Is Plusle."

Pinkie grinned. "Nice to meet you. Hope you enjoy the party."

* * *

A fair way away from the party, near the empty streets of Ponyville, a single Pokémon sat, waiting.

_"Please,"_ Cresselia begged, looking up at the sky. _"Please come."_ Cresselia had told Darkrai about the party, she had asked him to meet her, and yet he hadn't shown up.

The Lunar Pokémon knew it was a long shot, Darkrai wasn't very social with the other Legendaries even, let alone complete strangers, plus she knew he wouldn't want to risk causing any nightmares. _He would have to stay by my side all night,_ Cresselia thought, blushing. _Not that that would be a bad thing._

Cresselia was beginning to lose hope that he would show up, and was going to leave, even leaving a Lunar Wing on the bench to show she waited, when she felt the air grow colder, and saw the shadows all stretch to a single point, Cresselia smiled as Darkrai rose from the ground, glaring back at the portal as he did.

_"Hello Cresselia."_ He greeted.

_"Hi Darkrai."_ Cresselia smiled. _"I'm glad you decided to come."_

Darkrai didn't tell Cresselia that when Luna had heard about the party, and Cresselia asking him to come, she had cancelled the night's lesson and told him to go to Ponyville.

Despite himself, Darkrai smiled. _"Well... I can't say no to you."_

Cresselia smiled and blushed. _"Then lets not waste anymore time,"_ Cresselia floated to Darkrai's side._"Shall we?"_

Darkrai looped his arm through one of Cresselia's wings and smiled. _"Lets."_

As the pair floated towards the sounds of festivity, the Lunar Wing on the bench glinted in the moonlight, until a shadow curled around it and spirited it away.

* * *

"It's been a great party, Pinkie," Twilight said. "But I've got to head home."

Pinkie nodded. "Don't worry Twilight. I'm just glad everyone had fun!" Indeed it had been a great night, and other than a few minor spats, the party had gone off without a hitch.

"We should get goin' too." Applejack admitted. "How these two," She pointed to Apple Bloom and Bulbasaur asleep on her back. "Managed ta stay up this late is just a mystery, but ah' gotta get 'em home."

The party was really starting to wind down, as most ponies had already left as well as a good number of the Pokémon. Discord was still around, helping with the Pokémon and ponies who were still around, as well as talking with Hoopa, and for some reason, that made Twilight nervous.

As Pinkie bid farewell to her friends, and Applejack and Twilight split ways, Twilight began to look for someone. Since Spike and Juniper were back at the library, both having left earlier, she wanted to talk with someone, alone.

"He didn't leave long before I did," Twilight said to herself. "He has to be around here somewhere."

_"Looking for me?"_ Twilight jumped as Arceus trotted up behind her. _"Call it a hunch, but I figured you would want to speak with me."_

Twilight nodded.

_"What is it Princess? A question? A request? Something else?"_

"A promise." Arceus hadn't been expecting that. "I want you to promise me that, at the upcoming World Summit, if the racial leaders are... less cooperative than Celestia's been, I don't want you to drag Equestria down with you if everything goes wrong."

Arceus raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. _"Princess Twilight, you have more love for your country than a Leavanny for her young."_ He sighed. _"And believe me, that is the last thing I want to do."_

Twilight nodded. "Good." Then she noticed something a small pink form curled up on Arceus' back, where upon closer inspection, Twilight discovered that it was Mew. "Is she alright?" Twilight asked.

Arceus looked back at his daughter and smiled softly. _"Mew hasn't slept much since we arrived here, and while I don't require sleep, my daughters do."_

Twilight smiled. "Well I won't keep you. Goodnight Lord Arceus."

_"Goodnight Princess Twilight."_ A portal opened up in front of Arceus at his whim. _"I'm certain we shall meet again soon."_

Arceus stepped through the portal and it closed, leaving Twilight alone in the streets of Ponyville.


	27. Chapter 24 and a half

Pinkie's party was really getting started. Ever since the Pokémon had started showing up, things had gotten much more lively. This was partially because a Pinkie party couldn't not be lively, and partially because of the fact that the Pokémon and ponies could understand each other.

While some ponies and Pokémon were using this opportunity just to get to know each other, others were finally able to talk to the friends they'd made over the past few days.

For example, three little fillies and their Pokémon who sat underneath a dessert table.

"Was this Professor guy nice?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Squirtle nodded. "Professor Oak took care of us. He also takes care of a lot of Pokémon at his lab."

Once the crusaders had discovered that they were able to talk to the Pokémon, they had asked how they knew each other. It had led to a discussion about this Pokémon Professor and how new trainers got their first Pokémon.

Sweetie Belle was about to ask another question when a light purple head poked itself under the table cloth. "Hi Sweetie Belle, hi Scootaloo, hi Apple Bloom."

"Hi Dinky." The crusaders greeted back. "What brings you here?"

Dinky smiled and crawled under the table, followed by Pipsqueak, Snips, Snails, Zipporwhill, and Rumble.

"Ok... what are you _all_ doing here?" Scootaloo asked.

"We heard that you three got Pokémon." Pipsqueak said. "And we wanted to see 'em."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "First off, we didn't 'get' Pokémon. They ain't dolls. Second, this is Bulbasaur."

"H-hello." The little Grass-type waved one of his vines shly.

Scootaloo grinned. "This is Charmander." She waved to the Fire-type, who grinned and waved at the foals.

"And I'm Squirtle." The Tiny Turtle Pokémon shouted, electing a giggle from the foals.

"They're sooo cute!" Zipporwhill cooed, fluttering a bit as she did. Charmander crossed his arms and pouted a bit, while Bulbasaur blushed and Squirtle grinned.

"So why are you hiding under here anyway?" Rumble asked. "The party's out there."

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed. "But the sweets are up there." She pointed upwards, indicating the dessert table above them.

"On the ceiling?" Snails asked.

"Nope," Apple Bloom grinned. "Watch this." She turned to Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, would ya mind gettin' us some treats?"

The Pokémon grinned and said. "No problem." Suddenly two vines shot from either side of his body and reached out from under the table. A few moments later, they returned, balancing a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

"We've been pilferin' sweets since we got here and no pony's noticed." Apple Bloom explained, already passing out cookies.

"Sweet." Most of the foals said in agreement.

After the cookies were eaten the group decided to head out and see what else there was to be done. Starting with a game Pinkie had gotten from... no one really knew who told her about pin the tail on the Tauros, just that it was, in fact, a Pokémon.

The group even managed to pick up a few more foals and some younger Pokémon who wanted to play, including a Chatot that took a liking to Pipsqueak.

The group was in the middle of a game of hide and seek, with Dinky as the seeker, when Arceus showed up. "Uh... guys?... Oly, oly oxen free?"

The foals and Pokémon came out from their hiding places, only for most of the Pokémon to duck back down. "A-Arceus." Bulbasaur whispered.

"That's him?" Apple Bloom asked. She had heard enough from her family the past few days, plus the random announcement in her mind, to figure out that he was responsible for everything that had happened. She just wasn't sure what to expect when he finally showed up.

"He doesn't look as weird as I thought he would." Button Mash admitted.

""Well what's he doing?' Rumble asked.

"I think he's here for the party." Dinky answered, as it turned out Dinky was right. Arceus managed to get everyone to calm down after explaining that he was only here for the party.

"Well now what?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo thought for a second then smiled and tapped Sweetie on the shoulder, saying. "Tag, you're it." The rest of the foals galloping off with her.

"Hey! No fair!" Sweetie Belle ran after her friends, Squirtle following behind her.

* * *

As the party continued on, more Legendaries began to show up. Some making a grand entrance, like when Articuno descended from the sky, others such as Raikou just walked in, and a few chose to sneak in.

Hoopa, hiding herself in the shadows, snickered as she floated one of her rings off of her horn. _"Whose going to be first?"_ The Mischief Pokémon wondered, searching for her first victim.

She settled on an Earth Pony mare tending the bar. Chuckling to herself, Hoopa floated over to the bar and hid behind it. Then, shrinking down one of her rings, she fit it over the nozzle of one of the drink dispensers.

"_Now,"_ She said with an evil grin. _"We wait."_ It only took a few minutes for somepony to request the particular drink, and as he did, the mare twisted the nozzle and-

"AYYYYYIIII." Everypony near the drink bar turned to see what had happened, and were greeted by a sopping wet Berry Punch, a shocked expression on her face.

Hoopa covered her mouth as she drew her rings back towards her, leaving Berry to stammer and try to figure out what had happened. The Ghost-type turned around, ready to search for her next victim.

Across the clearing, Discord sat, chewing on some of the bacon Pinkie had cooked, when he felt something. "I sense a disturbance in the force." He said to no one in particular, looking around, Discord noticed the crowd around the drink bar. "Well, well, well," He said, teleporting behind the building, and right into the path of a fleeing trickster. "What have we-Oof!"

Hoopa bumped into Discord and rubbing her head, looked up at the Draconequus. _"What are you?"_ She blurted out.

Disccord glared down at the Pokémon before him. "Why I'll have you know I'm a who, not a what, the what's a Draconequus by the way, and I'm Discord, master of chaos, lord of-"

"_You're the guy Zygarde fought a few days ago."_ Hoopa recalled his name.

Discord sighed, having been interrupted in his monologue. "Yes, I fought that snaky ruffian for control of the Everfree... I should probably go check on that," He hadn't checked on the forest since his battle. "I take it your one of those Legendaries?"

"_Lady Hoopa, master of Mischief."_ She grinned at her mostly self imposed but not entirely untrue title.

Discord raised an eyebrow at this. "Mischief you say?" He leaned backwards a bit to get a view of Berry Punch, now drying herself with a towel. "Then I suppose that was your doing?"

"_You got that right."_ Hoopa laughed. _"Why? You don't like it?"_

Discord laughed. "No, no, no, quite the opposite actually, in fact I believe there's another prankster who'd simply love to meet you."

Hoopa's green eyes narrowed. _"Who?"_

Before she could respond again Discord put a claw behind Hoopa's back and pushed her forward, calling out. "Oh Pinkie!"

Discord pulled Hoopa forward to where Pinkie Pie was standing, talking to a few Pokémon. Once she noticed them, she excused herself and trotted towards them.

"Hi Discord, who's this?" She asked.

"Pinkie pie, met Hoopa, a Legendary Pokémon whose specialty seems to be mischief." Discord said with a grin.

Pinkie cocked her head in curiosity. "What kind of mischief, like what you use to do?" There was a small amount of worry in her voice.

At this point, Hoopa decided to interject. _"I don't cause too much trouble, just some mostly harmless pranks."_

Pinkie's smile grew wider. "You're a prankster too? Neato, we should trade notes."

Hoopa chuckled at this. _"Sorry, but I doubt you'd be able to replicate my pranks,"_ She floated the ring off her right horn and let it expand to about the size of a hoola hoop. _"Look in here."_

Without much hesitation, Pinkie did as she was told. A few seconds later, with a slight echo in her voice, Pinkie said. "Hey, I can see the tops of mountains!"

Hoopa rolled her eyes and pulled her ring back to her, removing it from around Pinkie's head. _"In can warp space using these,"_ She explained, putting the ring back in place. _"So long as I have one, I can open a portal to just about anywhere."_

"That. Is. Awesome!" Pinkie shouted. "You could visit your friends in like, a second!"

"_Plus, they're helpful for pulling pranks on others."_ Hoopa added, attempting to get the conversation back on track.

"Oh, oh, you've gotta tell me some of your prank stories. Please?" Pinkie gave Hoopa a pleading look that the Ghost-type couldn't refuse.

"_Alright,"_ She thought for a second, then smiled. _"Alright, here's the story of when Mew and I trapped Phione in a lake in Oblivia for a week."_

* * *

Rainbow Dash had been having a pretty good evening. The party was fun, it was interesting seeing all the Pokémon, and everyone was having a good time, then she saw _them_.

Two Pokémon. Both similar, one red, one blue, and both looked incredibly aerodynamic. Streamlined figures, tail feathers... fins... things... and wings that looked as if they shouldn't have been able to bend, and yet somehow did.

"Dash?" Applejack interjected. "You've been starin' at those two for almost ten minutes now."

"Uh huh."

Applejack shook her head. "What are ya doin'?"

"Wondering how good those two are a flying." She admitted.

Applejack chuckled at her friend. "Always the speedster, ain't ya Dash? Why don't ya go ask 'em 'er somethin'?"

"Because," Dash began. "I don't know how Pokémon deal with races, what if I inadvertently enact some kind of life debt when I beat them? I don't wanna go through what you did with Spike."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "First off, what makes ya so sure you'll win? Last I checked ya were only the fastest flyer in Equestria, not wherever they're from."

Dash looked hurt at this accusation, then her face slowly warped to one of realization, extremely pained realization.

"And second, ya could just ask what kinda rules they follow."

Dash thought for a second about everything Applejack had said, then bolted towards the Pokémon. Applejack shook her head, then went to find her sister, since she had heard that she and her friends were hoarding the dessert tables.

Latias was having a good time at the party. The ponies were nice and she really enjoyed seeing all her friends enjoying themselves. She just wished her brother would join in the fun.

Latios had always been more withdrawn than his sister, even more so ever since the incident in Alto Mare. In fact the only reason he even came to the party was because he didn't like leaving his sister alone.

So while Latias chatted with some of the ponies. Some sisters who worked at the spa and were interested in her feathers. Latios noticed the rainbow maned mare heading towards them.

The Eon Pokémon intersected her before she reached Latias. _"Greetings Miss... Rainbow Dash,"_ He pulled the name from her mind. _"What's so urgent?"_

"I uh, I wanted to talk to you and you're..." She looked at Latias. "Friend."

The Dragon cocked his head. _"What about?"_

Dash steeled her nerves and grinned cockily. "I wanted to challenge you to a race."

"_A race?"_ Latios began. _"Why?"_ Most Pokémon weren't this forward when it came to challenges, although it had happened before.

'"Because I'm the fastest flyer in all of Equestria," Dash explained. "And with all you Pokémon here I gotta defend my title "

Latios chuckled, but before he could respond Latias flew over. _"Hey Latios,"_ She greeted. _"Who's your friend?"_

Latios smiled. _"Latias, this is Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash, this is my sister, Latias."_

"_Hi Rainbow Dash,"_ Latias floated over to the mare and held out her claw. _"I like your mane."_

"Thanks," Rainbow Dash smiled and shook hooves/claws with the Dragon. "I was just asking your brother here if he wanted to have a race cause-"

"_Ohh, a race? I love races! Can I come?"_ Latias asked excitedly, electing another chuckle from her brother.

"_Well Miss Dash it seems like you've got yourself a challenge."_ Latios wasn't much for competition, but his sister could be quite the showoff at times.

"_We can race now if you want."_ Latias said. _"I have good night vision."_

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Actually, how does tomorrow sound, around noon?" While Rainbow could fly at night if she wanted to she preferred doing it when the sun was up.

Latias nodded. _"Alright, I'll meet you back here around noon tomorrow, then we'll race."_

"Sounds like a plan," Dash said. "So how are you two liking Equestria so far?'

"_What we've seen of it has been quite lovely,"_ Latios answered. _"Although we've been in the Hall of Legends for most of the time."_

Dash blinked in confusion. "Wait... you mean... are you two Legendaries?"

"_Uh huh."_ Latias answered. _"Why? You afraid you're not gonna be able to beat me now?"_ She asked jokingly.

Dash's eyes narrowed. "I ain't afraid of nothing, especially not losing, cause I'm gonna win!"

Latias giggled, she had no idea just how fast Rainbow Dash could fly, but if her attitude was anything to go by, then she was in for one heck of a race tomorrow.

* * *

Misty and May had known each other for quite some time back on Earth. They met through a mutual friend, and had stayed in contact ever since, so it only made sense that they would spend the night together to try and forget about their problems for a while. Them dragging Korrina along however...

"You know you didn't have to invite me." Korrina said. "I was just fine on my own."

"We know we didn't _have_ to," May answered. "But we wanted to anyway. We're all in the same boat here, and tonight, we're going to forget about that and have some fun."

May was still pretty upset about everything, but she wasn't going to let that ruin a perfectly good party.

"May's right," Misty said. "We have... probably forever, to figure this out. For now, we should just enjoy the party."

Korrina sighed. She knew they were right, and that sitting at a table with only Lucario for company all night wasn't good for her.

Before Korrina could think anymore on the subject, May passed her a drink. "Now come on, loosen up, from what Misty's told me you need it."

Korrina took the drink and took a sip, the fizzy drink tasted similar to some drinks back on Earth, although Korrina had been hoping for something a little... stronger.

"I talked to the mare at the bar," May explained. "She said Pinkie didn't let her bring any alcohol because she didn't know how it would affect Pokémon."

Despite herself, Misty laughed. "Someone needs to tell Pinkie just what a Shuckle does in it's shell."

May laughed and Korrina grinned, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to spend some time with these two after all.

As the night wore on the trio began to share stories, May telling about her contests, Misty and Korrina about Gym battles, and all of them about their odder adventures.

"So let me see if I got this right," Korrina said. "You were actually there when the Legendary Birds went crazy."

Misty smiled. "I was right in the middle of it."

"And when Alto Mare nearly got drowned?"

Misty frowned. "Yeah..." She turned to look in the direction of Latios and Latias, both still talking with Rainbow Dash. "I was there."

Sensing she was closing in on a difficult subject, she turned to May. "And you were in LaRousse City when Rayquaza nearly leveled the place?"

May chuckled. "Yeah, I actually asked Deoxys about that when he got here. Turns out, after their last battle, Deoxys' crystal got picked up by a scientist we met there, and stuck in some kind of machine that stopped his regeneration as a byproduct," May shook her head and chuckled. "The other Legendaries apparently didn't stop pestering Rayquaza for almost four years until he tracked down Deoxys and he was freed."

"Wow," Korrina said, shaking her head. "You guys have _really_ exciting lives."

Misty and May laughed. "Aww, come on, you're from Kalos, I'm sure you've had something exciting." May prodded.

Korrina didn't smile,but raised an eyebrow at the pair. "Other than the time Team Flare tried to commit genocide?"

Misty and May looked at each other. "Heh, right... sorry about that."

"Don't apologize," Korrina said. "Calem fixed everything in the end." That made her stop and think, while she wasn't best buds with Calem, she did count him as a friend. And she wondered just where he was... she supposed she could ask Xerneas later.

"So May, anyone you want to find here?" Korrina asked.

May sighed and tapped her fingers against the table. "The rest of my team, and my family." She said. "And a few close friends."

"Same here," Misty said. "I just wish I knew what happened to my sisters. We weren't even in the same region when Arceus... well, you know."

"Yeah," Korrina agreed. "For me, I wanna find my team, and my grandpa," She smiled. "He's the Mega Evolution Guru, so he might be helpful. You know, changing forms and all?" Korrina was almost certain her grandfather would know next to nothing about this kind of transformation, but she wasn't going to say that out loud.

When Korrina mentioned Mega Evolution, May smiled. "Hey, maybe you can Mega Evolve now, since you ARE a Lucario now...although I don't know how it'd work without a trainer."

"Plus I lost my Keystone, and Lucario's Mega Stone when I was brought here." Korrina added.

May and Misty nodded. They had both lost more than just their bodies in the transfer. "You know," May suddenly said. "I wonder if Arceus even brought Mega Stones, and Evolution stones, here. He seemed more focused on moving Pokémon, and us."

"There's a ten ton crystal sundial up in Canterlot that he stole from Anistar City," Korrina replied, twirling the straw in her drink. "I don't think he'd have a problem bringing a bunch of rocks with him."

The group continued to talk for a while longer, then Misty and May excused themselves. Both of them were staying at Fluttershy's for the time being, at least until they figured out more permanent living arrangements. Korrina decided that it was probably about time that she head off as well.

"See you girls around." She waved to Misty and May as they parted ways. As Korrina began looking for Lucario she resolved to spend some more time with those two. Even though they had just talked, Korrina felt a lot more comfortable, knowing she had some friends who were in the same situation she was.

* * *

Spike had been having a great time at the party so far. He was up way past his bedtime, got to hang out with his friends, and Pinkie had even gotten rock candy specifically for him. Although he could've sworn he saw some kind of gremlin at the table earlier.

The only downside was that Rarity had been distracted most of the night, talking to the different Pokémon and asking them questions about fashion. Which most of them were clueless about.

Spike was considering joining the crusaders and their friends in their commandeering of the dessert table. Then he saw something that made him do a double take.

Standing over by one of the tables was what looked like another dragon, and one his age, not like Gene's Flygon. It was blue, had some kind of silver crest, and it appeared to be on the lookout for something.

"Is that a Pokémon, or did Pinkie invite another dragon?" He wondered aloud. And figuring that it couldn't hurt to ask, he walked over to the creature. Upon seeing him, it raised an eyelid, then ducked under the table.

"Hey, wait up!" He called after it, crawling under the table cloth. Once he was under the table, he saw the blue creature standing there. Along with the creature was another dragon-like creature with tusks, what might have been a baby sea serpent, and something that looked like a cross between a dragon and a shark.

"Um...hi?" He offered.

"Oh goody," The Gible chirped. "Another dragon." Spike was inwardly shocked that the creature sounded female.

"Are you sure he's a dragon?" Axew asked. "He doesn't look like any I've seen before."

"Hey! I am totally a dragon." Spike countered by blowing a puff of fire. "See?"

The Bagon rolled his eyes. "So you can use Ember. Any Charmander worth his flame can do that."

"What?" Spike asked. He thought for a second, confused, then his eyes lit up. "You guys are all Pokémon right?"

The Dratini blinked in confusion. "You're not?" She asked.

"No, hatched and raised right here in Equestria." Spike answered.

"This place has its own Dragons?" Axew asked.

"Apparently so," Bagon replied, he turned back to Spike. "Sorry for the doubt, but this is a Dragon's only meeting."

"Ok," Spike began. "Why do you need one?"

Dratini giggled. "Because we use to have them back in the Dragon's Den when we didn't know what to do."

"Alright," Spike shrugged, deciding not to question it. "Do you want me to leave or something?"

At that question the four Dragon's looked at each other. "One minute." Gible said. The Pokémon met for a huddle, where they whispered amongst themselves and one of them, usually Dratini, would occasionally look up at him.

Once the huddle broke Bagon spoke up. "We have decided that... what's your name?"

"Spike."

"That Spike the Dragon can join the Training Dragon club." The other Pokémon all clapped, or at least the ones with hands, while Spike wondered what he had just gotten drafted into.

"Our first order of business," Bagon said. "Is to find a new base of operations since our old is currently..."

"Located in another dimension?" Spike offered.

"Exactly. Any ideas?"

When no one came up with any ideas, Spike spoke up. "Do you guys need a place to stay?" He asked.

"Pretty much." Axew answered. "Our nest was back in Blackthorn City."

"What about your parents?" He asked. From what Juniper had told Twilight, most Pokémon took care of their young.

"They were with their trainers." Dratini said with a sigh. "The Dragon Trainers took care of us until an initiate was ready for their first Pokémon."

"In that case, I'm sure my friend Fluttershy would be happy to let you stay with her for a while. She's been taking in all kinds of Pokémon since you guys started showing up." Spike was actually worried that Fluttershy would try to take in too many Pokémon eventually, since more just kept showing up, but that could be dealt with later.

"And this Fluttershy, is she a Pony?" Gible asked.

"Yeah, the nicest Pony you could ever meet." Spike smiled. "She's literally the spirit of kindness, or something like that."

"And you're sure she'll let us stay with her for a while?" Bagon asked.

"Yes, in fact, why don't I introduce you? She should still be here."

The Dragon-types all looked at each other, met in another huddle, then came out grinning. "Alright, we'll go with you to meet this Fluttershy." Bagon said.

"Alright, follow me then." Spike held up the tablecloth and let the rest of the Dragons out ahead of him before heading off towards where he had last seen Fluttershy, near the edge of the clearing, away from the bulk of the noise.

Sure enough, the timid Pegasus was still there, talking to a Scizor. "Hi Fluttershy." Spike greeted.

Fluttershy looked away from the Steel-type to see Spike leading a group of baby dragon Pokémon. "Aww," She cooed at the sight. "Who are your friends Spike?"

The group had done introductions on their way over, so Spike at least knew their names. "This is Bagon, Gible, Dratini, and Axew." He said, gesturing to each as he said their name.

"We're the Training Dragon club." Dratini added happily, electing a giggle from Fluttershy.

"It's nice to meet all of you," She said. "Did you need something Spike?"

"Actually, yeah, you see these guys don't really have anywhere to go, and their parents aren't around to take care of them, so I was wondering if-"

Fluttershy held up a hoof and smiled softly. "Say no more Spike, I'd be happy to help your friends. They can stay with me."

"You sure?" Spike asked. "Cause I wouldn't want to impose."

"I'm sure," Fluttershy assured her friend. "I have enough room for these little cuties back at my cottage."

Spike smiled. "Thanks 'Shy, but promise me if you need anything you'll ask."

Fluttershy smiled. "I promise."

After talking a bit more and figuring out when Fluttershy was planning to head homes, Spike turned back to the other Dragons. "Well, looks like you guys have got a place to stay."

The group smiled and cheered and Dratini slid up to Spike and nuzzled him. "Thanks Spike."

Spike smiled and said. "No problem, I'm always happy to help."

Bagon stepped forward with a grin on his face and slapped Spike on the back. "You'll make a great addition to our team, especially after a little training."

"Yeah, about that..." Spike began. "What exactly is your club?"

"It's pretty simple," Gible explained. "We help each other train so that we can get stronger and eventually Evolve."

Spike remembered seeing what Belle had done to the Combee, and what Juniper did to the Ponies in Trottingham. "W-wait, do you mean-"

"Now come on team," Bagon said. "I smelled sweets on the way here, and I wanna get my claws on some Poképuffs."

The Dragon-types cheered and ran towards the dessert table, leaving Spike wondering just what he had gotten himself into this time. "Ehh," He shrugged. "How bad could it be? The girls have dragged me on their crusades before. This can't be any worse than that." _That_ made him shudder.

And as the night went on, Pokemon and Ponies began to come to an understanding a midst the fun and games, that this was, in fact, Pinkie's greatest party yet!


	28. Chapter 25

The morning after Pinkie's party snuck up on everyone, and while many of them would have preferred to stay in bed, they couldn't. Everypony still had work to do, and since it was Saturday, many ponies were going to set up their stands in hopes of selling more products.

The Pokémon, however, did not have to get up early, save for those who had befriended a pony.

This was why it was almost ten when Gene and Belle, accompanied by Mage, left Carousel Boutique in order to meet with Juniper and Twilight.

Twilight had a few questions she wanted to ask Gene that Juniper said he would be better at answering than her, or would at least be able to put in layman's terms for the notes.

"What do you think she's going to ask?" Mage asked.

"Probably a few questions about you," Belle answered, remembering Twilight's doubts about Ghost Pokémon.

Mage smirked. "Well, I _am_ an interesting subject, and I'd do anything to help a fellow scholar." That was the main reason the Mismagius was coming. Despite her trickster tendencies Mage had an almost profound love of learning. Especially when it came to magic.

When Gene told her that Twilight was a magical prodigy who lived in a library-tree he couldn't keep her from coming.

Gene smiled as he remembered that he first met Mage in a library, where she-

"Hey! Gallade!" Gene turned around to see a Hitmontop and a Medicham running towards them, a Plusle and Minun following behind them.

"Hi." Gene said, slightly wearily. "Did you two want something?" For whatever reason, Gene was getting a bad feeling about these two.

The Medicham smiled. "No, we're just going around and making sure everymon is doing alright."

"That's very kind of you." Belle said.

"It's our job miss," The Hitmontop saluted. "We may not look it right now, but we're Pokémon Rangers."

Belle had to stop herself from teleporting, and Gene's entire body tensed slightly. "Rangers huh?" He asked.

"Yep," The Medicham nodded. "I'm Solana, and this is Lunick, we're the Top Rangers from the Fiore Region." The pride in her voice was obvious.

"Great," Gene said, trying to stay calm. "I'm Gene and this is Belle and Mage."

At his introductions a look of curiosity crossed the Rangers' faces. "Wait, were you... humans? Or did your Trainer give you those names?"

"Why do those names sound familiar..." Solana asked herself.

Gene took a breath and closed his eyes for a second, feeling Belle's had slip into his he said. "I was human, Belle and Mage are my Pokémon."

Solana thought for a second, trying to remember where she had heard those names. Then it hit her. "Professor Hastings, he made an announcement about you... You're the one who-!"

Gene stopped her before she started. "Yeah, I'm the guy from Unova who's wedding the Ranger Union crashed."

"Because you tried to marry your Pokémon!" Lunick shouted.

Solana stepped forward, a look of determination on her face. "I'm placing you under arrest for Pokémon right's violations. You-"

"You aren't going to do anything." Belle said, stepping forward. "Last I checked, you have no legal power in countries on other planets."

Lunick and Solana looked at her in shock. "Why are you defending him?" Lunick asked.

Belle glared at them. "Because he's my mate, and my Trainer, and, most importantly, because I love him."

At this point, a crowd of ponies had begun to gather around the Pokémon. "Lunick," Minun tapped his partners leg. "I think you're drawing a crowd."

The Rangers didn't back down. "Doesn't matter," Solana said. "The Union's been after this guy for years, I'm not gonna let him get away." Solana prided herself on knowing the list of fugitives and trouble makers that the Union kept, and stopping them whenever she could.

"What are you gonna do?" Mage asked, floating up to the Fighting-types. "Use your little spinning tops on us?" She looked at Lunick and grinned. "Maybe you'll just spin around us instead?"

Lunick didn't respond to that one. "Just come quietly." He said.

"To where?" Gene asked. "No police station around here is going to arrest us for loving each other, and it's not like your Ranger HQ got transferred."

Plusle jumped onto Solana's shoulder. "Solana, I think he's right." She whispered to her partner.

Before the Ranger could respond a different voice from the edge of the crowd spoke up. "Step aside ya'll, ah'm gonna see-" Applejack pushed through the crowd of Ponies and into the center of the group where the Pokémon stood. "Gene? Belle? What in tarnations is goin' on here?"

"Applejack, this is Lunick and Solana, they're Pokémon Rangers." Gene answered.

Applejack sighed and looked back at the crowd of ponies. "Alright, ya'll git now, this is private."

The ponies heeded Applejack's word and backed off, although a few lingered close by.

"Now what's the problem exactly?" Applejack asked.

"The problem, miss," Lunick started. "Is that this man is charged with at least ten counts of Pokémon abuse, more than twelve counts evading International Police Officers and Pokémon Rangers, and I don't even want to know how many counts Poképhilia."

"I am so sick of hearing that word!" Belle shouted. "It's offensive and you make it sound like it's something disgusting."

Lunick started to respond. "Tha-"

"If you value your mind I wouldn't finish that sentence." Mage warned.

Applejack shook her head. "Alright, from what ah know 'bout you Rangers, which ain't much. Ya'll are some type of law back on Earth?"

"You've got that right Miss Applejack." Solana answered.

"Right, well first off, welcome to Equestria if ya haven't already heard that."

"We have," Lunick replied. "We were at that party last night."

Applejack smiled. "Good, you meet Pinkie?"

"Briefly," Solana answered. "She's... different."

Applejack laughed. "That she is, that she is. Now what were Gene's charges again?"

"Evading law officers, Pokémon abuse,"

"That's a lie." Gene defended.

Solana glared at him. "And Poké-"

"Angry Psychic-type, remember?!" Mage shouted.

"Ah got it," Applejack said. "And unless ah'm wrong, all o' that's 'cause Gene and Belle here are a couple?"

"I wouldn't call it a couple." Lunick said. "But yes."

"We are too a couple." Belle mumbled.

"I know, love." Gene said, kissing her on the cheek.

Applejack noted the look of concern that flashed across the Rangers' faces. "Right, well, you ain't arrestin' Gene for lovin' Belle, ain't no court in Equestria gonna take that case."

"But he can't get away with-"

"Fallin' in love?" Applejack asked. "Fer lovin' his girl with all his heart and not lettin' anything stand in the way? That ain't illegal sugarcube, it's love, and some may call it crazy, but it ain't illegal."

Lunick and Solana stared at the Mare, open mouthed. "Now why don't you two go 'n think 'bout that, when ya'll have clearer heads the ah'm sure Twilight'll wanna talk ta ya, she lives in the big tree in the center of town."

Lunick and Solana looked at each other, whispered something, then just walked away. Plusle and Minun on their partners shoulders.

Applejack smiled and turned back to Gene and Belle. Only to see that both of them, plus Mage, were gaping at her. "What?" She asked.

"How did you do that?"

Applejack pulled her hat down over her brow. "Just common sense. Sooner those two realize it the better."

"No," Belle said. "I meant the 'That's not illegal, that's love-' part."

Applejack looked away and said, "Ah, uh, ah read it somewhere."

"Where'd you read something like that?" Mage asked.

Applejack mumbled a reply. "Sorry, didn't catch that." Gene said.

"Ah read it in a romance novel Rarity tricked me inta readin' for her book club alright?!" Applejack still couldn't believe Rarity had tried that. The only ones who enjoyed it were her and Twilight... and Pinkie, but Pinkie enjoyed everything.

Gene, Belle, and Mage were silent for a second. Then the Mismagius burst out laughing. "You... you beat the Rangers with a corny line form a-!? Ah hah hah!"

Gene and Belle couldn't help but join in. And even Applejack let out a laugh.

* * *

_I Wonder how the other countries are dealing with this?_ Celestia thought to herself. The solar Princess was currently hosting the Day Court.

_Victoria will likely be able to gain control of the situation, assuming Arceus' message didn't cause panic._ As ponies had come to her day court Celestia had noticed a pattern. Some nobles would ask about the usual laws they wished to pass, which Celestia would file away, have her advisors look over later, send her the serious ones, and send the ones that no sane ruler would ever pass to Discord for revision.

Some shop owner or other citizen would ask for help in one way or another, which Celestia may or may not give depending on the request.

But the majority of the ponies came in about the Pokémon. Questions Celestia didn't know the answer to or couldn't answer. Complaints about them, some nobles asking what was being done to rid the city of the infestation.

Blueblood came in once asking for his ability to speak back, Celestia told him she didn't have time to play charades.

At this point, Celestia was contemplating just what her next course of action was to be. Currently, that meant trying to figure out what the other leaders were planning, and how she could counteract any harmful plans.

_Golden Horn might be a problem. Too quick to jump to conclusions. He might declare war... then Arceus would-_

"Princess?" One of Celestia's guards said, pulling the Princess from her thoughts. "Your next petitioner is ready."

Celestia nodded. "Send them in."

The guards hesitated. "Your highness... we just feel it's fair to warn you, your next-"

"Oh good grief," A slightly annoyed voice said, cracking open the door. "She knows who I am, now could we hurry this up?" Bio Chem smiled at Celestia and waved, causing her to sigh.

"Leave us." The Princess commanded. She made a point to never speak with Bio Chem around the guards. It tended to unnerve them.

The guards did as they were asked and Bio Chem trotted up to the throne, now alone with Celestia.

"Bio Chem," She began. "What is it? You know I prefer to speak with you after my work hours."

"Yes, yes, I know, but this is important." He pulled a scroll from his saddlebag. "Catch." He tossed it to the Princess, who caught it in her magic. Celestia raised an eyebrow as she unrolled the scroll.

"My report from the Cloudsdale Weather Factory." Bio Chem explains. "It explains the Magnemites', as well as their relatives', impact on the factory. As you can see, it's infinitesimal in the long run."

"Good," She rolled up the scroll. "But I don't suppose that's it?"

The Earth Pony smiled. "No, it's not." He pulled another scroll from his saddlebag, this one the Princess grabbed before he could throw it. "I would like to formally request that you allow me to conduct an in depth study of the Pokémon. Their abilities, habits, etcetera, etcetera, in the name of bettering our understanding of them, as well as how we can help each other in the future."

The stallion was no longer smiling, he now wore a very serious expression. "I will of course submit to any stipulations, limits, and rules you wish to enforce on the study."

Celestia read over the document. It was a formal request for a scientific expedition in and around Canterlot as well as the surrounding mountain, countryside, and forest. It also included several blank pages for the Princess to write the guidelines of the expedition. What shocked Celestia was that it wasn't a scientific expedition form in and of itself. It was a mixture of what one would submit for a diplomatic mission to another country and an expedition form.

"You're acting quite mature about this, Bio Chem," Celestia said. "Usually you're more, throw caution to the wind and whatnot."

Bio Chem nodded. "True, in my lab, or when I only have to worry about _you_ or Princess Luna getting mad at me I'd usually be like that," He sighed. "Now there's a being who's just as powerful as you are, if not more so. And if I upset him, I doubt he'd have any second thoughts about doing away with me."

Celestia thought on that for a moment, then said. "Alright Bio Chem, I'll allow this, for now." The geneticist smiled. "But, and you seem to understand this already, but I'm still going to say it. You are going to treat these Pokémon as you would if you were conducting one of your social experiment in Canterlot. If they ask to be left alone, leave them alone. If they offer you information, then you will write down what they say, word for word, not press them if they seem uncomfortable, and present your findings to me for the final analysis." _And I'll send them to Twilight._

Bio Chem nodded, Celestia could see the gears turning in his mind. "Furthermore, you will allow a team of researchers, doctors, royal guards, and other specialists to accompany you." Bio Chem seemed a little miffed at this but accepted.

"And let me be clear, this will _not_ turn out like what happened on your first Everfree Expedition, are we clear on this?"

"As clear as a bathtub full of hydrogen." Bio Chem nodded.

Celestia nodded. "Good, I'll fill this out later and have it back to you."

"Of course, your highness." Bio Chem said with a bow. "I'll ready my supplies."

As Bio Chem trotted out of the room, the guards came back in. "How does the rest of my day look?" She asked, hoping there wouldn't be many more petitioners.

Before the guards could answer, Aegislash floated into the room, and settled in the air beside Celestia.

The Princess turned to the guards. "It showed up a while ago," One of them offered. "And most of the petitioners ran off."

Celestia turned to the sword. "Didn't I order you to patrol the palace grounds?" She asked.

"My apologies, master, but I sensed your heart rate rising and had to make sure that you were not in danger." The Steel-type answered almost robotically.

Celestia shook her head. _Now it's calling me master... and how can it sense my heartbeat?_

She decided to question Aegislash later, and instead turned to the paper before her. "Is anyone left?"

"A few, although most seem to be questioners."

Celestia thought for a moment. "Tell them that something's come up, and give them a pass so they can be first in line tomorrow."

The guards nodded and left, leaving Celestia with her thoughts, and her ghostly bodyguard.

The Princess turned her attention to the form Bio Chem had given her, and began to write. _Any attempts, or perceived attempts to harm the subjects will, at the very least, be means for investigation._

* * *

Arceus was still getting used to his freedom. Having been trapped in the same metaphysical location for so long had driven him a little bit stir crazy at first, then he had just accepted it. This was what he was currently trying to undo.

"_Interesting liquid."_ Arceus dipped his hoof into the rainbow water in the pond in front of him. _"Liquid polychromatic light ranging across the entire spectrum that doesn't mix, and yet has the same consistency."_

Arceus held a list he had copied from a book in Princess Twilight's library, one hundred and one places to see in your lifetime.

"_I'll visit the Pyramids of Graze-a later on, for now Mount Fillymanjaro seems like a good place to visit."_

Since Arceus didn't sleep, he had a lot of time on his hooves. And after putting Mew to bed the night before, he had decided to get to know his new home. He had already visited the Mareiana's Trench and he had seen enough of the Everfree for a while, as well as Canterlot.

He had just finished up his excursion to Rainbow Falls, so he had randomly picked a new place to visit, one where he wouldn't draw too much attention to himself.

Right before he teleported to Zebrica for his first excursion to the Zebra homeland, another being teleported to him. _"Grandpa,"_ Celebi said. _"What are you doing?"_

"_Getting familiar with Equus, sweetie."_ He said. _"Since I have some free time for the first time in a long time, I thought I'd take some me time."_

The Time Travel Pokémon giggled and fluttered over to her grandfather, buzzing around his head a few times before settling on one of the spokes of his rings like a tree branch.

"_Comfy?"_ Arceus asked with a smile.

"_I missed you grandpa."_ Celebi said suddenly, latching onto her grandfather. _"It wasn't the same, not being able to see you and dad and-"_

Arceus twisted his head back around so he was looking at Celebi. _"I know, and I'm sorry it took so long for me to get out, but I'm back now and that's what matters."_

Celebi continued to cling to the Alpha Pokémon, and, if anything, she tightened her grip. Arceus chuckled. _"Alright, stay there, but I'm going to open a portal so don't be surprised."_

Arceus quickly twisted space a bit and opened a portal to the Fillymanjaro mountains. _"Hmm, it's night time here."_ Arceus commented as he stepped out atop the mountain. _"That's good to know for later."_

Arceus looked up at the night sky. _"I wonder how Princess Luna would react if I were to add a few constellations of my own."_

Celebi looked up at her grandfather, worried. _"I could put Gardevoir there, and Milotic would make a nice replacement for this Draco character."_

"_Grandpa?"_ Celebi asked. _"You're kidding right?"_

Arceus thought for a moment, then realized this one one of those things where forethought provided an answer. _"Of course sweetie, just reminiscing."_

Celebi didn't fully buy the answer but dropped the subject, and took to stargazing alongside Arceus, still nestled in his ring.

"_Celebi,"_ Arceus said. _"I know I asked for opinions before I brought us here, but I want to know. What do you think of Equestria so far?"_

Celebi thought for a moment before answering. _"It's hard to tell, for me. I'm not use to being tied to one time. Usually by now my future self would've shown up and told me."_

Arceus nodded, he had expected something like this. Meeting multiple versions of his granddaughter at one time on several occasions had given him an idea of how Celebi worked.

"_How is the time stream? By the way."_

Celebi sighed and shook her head. _"Still really messed up, no paradoxes have crept up yet though."_That wasn't entirely true. One huge paradox was how Celebi, in all her travels, hadn't know that the Pokémon would one day abandon Earth. That was a bit of a head scratcher.

Arceus just nodded.

The pair watched the sky in silence for a while longer. _"Grandpa... are you alright? You're not usually this quiet."_

Arceus didn't answer. _"Grandpa?"_ When he still didn't respond, Celebi leaned over and poked his side.

"_Hmm?"_

Celebi crossed her arms. _"You're distracted. Why are you distracted?"_

"_Just in thought,"_ He answered. _"You know, I've been getting prayers again since this all started? And not just, 'oh dear Arceus' either."_

Celebi shrugged. _"So? There were still a few of your churches in Sinnoh if I remember correctly."_

"_Yes, and that was nice, but these... so many are asking me to take them home, to make them human. I'm beginning to wonder if I made the right decision."_

Celebi raised an eyebrow. _"I thought you admitted you made a rash and poorly thought out decision to the Princesses."_

Arceus shrugged. _"Either way, I want to see this through to the end. I truly believe that Pokémon and Ponies can benefit greatly from each other."_

"_And humans?"_ Celebi asked.

Arceus raised his head and looked to the night sky. _"I want to see them grow, to truly become what I thought they would become when your aunts granted them will, knowledge, and emotion. And yet... I dread that I will be proven wrong yet again."_

"_You won't be."_ Celebi said, she revved her wings and flew right up to Arceus' face. _"Not by the humans. I've seen everything they've done over the millennia, and I believe that this time, this time they'll get it right."_

Arceus stared at his granddaughter, she acted so young most of the time that it was easy to forget she was several millennia old.

"_You have great love in your heart, Celebi."_ Arceus nuzzled his granddaughter. _"Never let that change."_

* * *

Rainbow Dash was going through her usual pre-race stretches. Getting ready to, she was sure, beat Latias in a race. She already has the whole thing planned out, once to the castle in the Everfree, back over Ghastly Gorge, and back to the start. There was only one thing missing.

"Where is that Pokémon?" Dash wondered. When news of her race had gotten out, quite a few ponies and Pokémon had gathered to watch. But her competitor had yet to show herself.

"What if she changed her mind?" Dash wondered aloud. "I'll look like an idiot if I stand here waiting for hours."

"Don't worry Dashie," Pinkie said. "I'm sure Latias is just a little late." She giggled. "That was a long alliteration." She giggled again and Dash began to tune her out and looked out at the crowd. Not everypony had shown up, Applejack was running her stand, Rarity was doing... something, at Carousel Boutique and Twilight was doing something science at her library.

Fluttershy was there, trying to reign in a bunch of young Pokémon, even more than there were yesterday.

And, as always, Scootaloo was there buzzing with excitement. Literally.

Dash had seen Discord a while back, talking with Pinkie about something. But she hadn't seen him for a while, and hoped he wasn't planning anything to mess with her win.

Most of the Pokémon Dash didn't recognize, but she saw Misty and May talking over in the shade, and Falkner and Pidgeot were watching from one of the trees.

As Pinkie continued to talk, Dash wondered just what was taking Latias so long. She didn't have to wait long to find out. _"Hello."_ Latias chirped happily as she flew into the clearing, followed by her brother. _"Sorry I'm late, I had a question for Diancie about something."_ She looked around the clearing at the gathered beings. _"My, quite a turnout for this."_

"Yeah, that's what happens when I race someone." Rainbow said. "Now come with me, I'm gonna show you the route we'll be-"

"_Don't worry,"_ Latias said, her eyes glowing blue. _"I've got it."_ Rainbow Dash felt something poke her mind, then the sensation disappeared.

"What the heck was that?" She asked.

"_You were thinking about showing me the route we're going to race, I just copied the map from your mind."_ Latias explained. _"I'm part Psychic-type."_

"And the other part?" Dash asked, expecting her to say Flying.

"_Dragon."_ Latias answered.

Dash's eyes widened. "Dragon?"

Latias nodded as she floated towards the starting point. _"Dragon/Psychic."_

Dash shook her head and followed the Legendary to the starting point. "Alright ladies," Discord appeared at the starting point in a referee's outfit. "I wanted to put booby traps along the path, and cotton candy clouds, but Pinkie and Fluttershy urged me to just set up the markers." Dash rolled her eyes. "Anyway, blah, blah, blah, good clean race, no shoving, pushing, biting, burning, or vaporizing."

Discord vanished momentarily only to reappear wearing a ridiculous orange two-piece and holding a checkered flag. "On your marks, get set..."

Dash and Latias stood ready, while Discord stood there as if he had been hit with the Elements of Harmony. No one said a thing, as Dash knew as soon as she let her guard down he would- "GO!"

One Pegasus and one Pokémon took off, leaving a rainbow trail and a red trail respectively behind them, both moving so fast that a few of the smaller Pokémon that had been standing a bit too close were nearly pulled along.

"And they're outta the gates!" Discord called, holding a microphone and a pair of binoculars. "Looks like they're neck and neck folks."

Meanwhile, Dash and Latias were each trying to pull ahead of each other, only for the other to gain ground. _Man, I can't shake her._ Dash thought. The pair came to the first bend, which meant they were passing the castle in the Everfree.

_She's pretty good,_ Latias thought. _I haven't had a race like this since the last time Latios and I raced._

"Annnnnnd there they go!" Discord shouted as the racers passed over Ponyville. "Onto the second leg of the race, Ghastly Gorge."

Latias couldn't help but snicker at the name. _I wonder if there are a lot of Ghastly there._ Soon Dash and Latias were flying over the gorge, still gaining speed as several Pokémon and various other animals that were in the Gorge did a double take upon seeing the rainbow and red streaks in the sky.

_I'm not gonna lose this!_ Dash thought. _I'm going to be Captain of the Wonderbolts someday,_Whenever she had doubt in herself, Dash tended to fall back on her oldest dream. It gave her the most hope._And Wonderbolts, don't. LOSE!_

Latias was shocked as Rainbow Dash formed a mach cone, then shot forward, her mane trailing behind her, leaving a rainbow in it's wake. The Eon Pokémon smirked. _That's a bit of a surprise,_ Latias pushed past the sound barrier, upsetting Dash's rainbow shock wave with one of her own.

She quickly caught up with Dash, much to the Pegasus' shock. Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and pushed herself even harder, going even faster into the turn, upsetting the clouds Discord had left as a marker.

Now going even faster than ever, the racers sped towards the finish line, already nearing the end of Ghastly Gorge. "I. Will. Win!" Rainbow Dash shouted, not wanting her first race with a Pokémon to end in failure.

Latias smiled as Dash pushed ahead. _"You're full of surprises aren't you?"_ She asked. _"Good, because I am too."_

Latias began to focus on a pool of energy, dormant energy, within herself. As well as her connection to her brother through the Soul Dew. Rainbow Dash smiled as the finish line came into view, then she heard an explosions from behind her.

Dash risked a glance back to see what Latias had done, only to find it unnecessary as the Legendary pulled up alongside here. Or Dash thought it was her. _What the hay?!_ She thought.

The Pokémon looked liked Latias, but not the same. It was blue, for one thing, and its arms and wings were fused together, and the wings were thicker as a result. In fact the creature was bigger all together.

Dash only knew it was Latias because it winked at her as it passed her. Getting over her surprise quickly (deciding she could ask questions later), she grit her teeth and pushed herself beyond the limit. "Oh no you don't!" Dash screamed, blasting after Latias.

The onlookers watched as the two rapidly approached the finish line, Ponies and Pokémon alike all at the edge of their seats as the Ponies cheered for Rainbow Dash, while most of the Pokémon cheered for Latias, the exception being the former humans who were too engrossed in the race to even think about cheering. "And here they come! Head-to-head! neck-and-ne... Oh ponyfeathers, everyone mo-"

Discord couldn't finish that thought, as the two tore through the clearing and passed the finish line, with both of them breaking the sound barrier again as they passed, sending out another shockwave. The Ponies, Pokémon, AND the spectator stands were promptly knocked over by the shockwave, while a few of them were pulled along by the tailwind that the two fliers left in their wake as they overshot their goal, leaving the site looking like a hurricane had blown through, which it might as well have.

"So... who won?" May slurred as her head poked out from under an overturned seat, her eyes little more than swirls at the moment.

"I blinked and... hey, since when could everything use Double Team?" Misty slurred back, as right now she was seeing several copies of... just about everything.

Meanwhile, the two fliers struggled to stop, having been going a bit too fast to control. It was only when they were halfway back to town that Latias and Rainbow Dash managed to stop... Only to immediately zoom back to the clearing... which was little more than a wreck now as both Ponies and Pokémon were crawling out from under the overturned seats. Amongst the wreckage, Pinkie Pie stood.

The party Pony saw the two arrive and gulped. "And the winner is..."


	29. Chapter 26

"And the winner is..." Pinkie looked between the Latias and Rainbow Dash, both were obviously expecting her to say their name.

Latias had a small smile on her face, and Dash had a larger one, although Pinkie could see a little nervousness in her's as well. Latias seemed to lack that, which, to Pinkie, could mean two things. One, she knew she won and wasn't worried about the results. Or two, she didn't care about the outcome, and had just enjoyed the race.

Pinkie began to sweat, her legs wobbled, and as she fell to the ground, she shouted the winner. "I DON'T KNOW!"

"...What!?" Dash asked.

Pinkie sniffled. "You guys were moving too fast, I couldn't see and... I'm sorry."

Dash frowned for a moment, before smiling gently and walking up to Pinkie. "Don't worry Pinkie," She put a foreleg around her friend. "It doesn't really matter who won, that was the best race I've had in a long time."

She turned to Latias, smiling. "That was a great race," She walked over to the Legendary and held out her hoof. "We should do this again sometime."

Latias smiled and shook Dash's hoof with her claw. _"Anytime."_

"So, what's with the whole..." She gestured at Latias. "You changing form."

"Did you Evolve?" Pinkie asked excitedly, springing to her feet and bouncing excitedly. "Oh! Does that mean your name changed? Are you Eonias now? Or-"

Latias blinked once before her body was engulfed in a swirling blue light. Once the glow faded Latias' body was back to her normal, petite, red form.

Latias looked down at her claws. _"That was my Mega Form."_ Latias explained. _"Some Pokémon can-"_

Dash held up a hoof. "Gene and Professor Juniper explained Evolution, including that one," She paused for a second. "I thought you needed a special stone to do that."

"_Most Pokémon do, but me, Latios, and the other Legendaries who can Mega Evolve are able to do it on command."_ She looked to her brother. _"Although Latios and I need to be near each other to activate it."_

"Why?" Pinkie asked.

Latios, who had floated over after making sure no one had been hurt in the blast, answered. _"Another part of Mega Evolution is that a Pokémon has to have a connection to their trainer. Since Legendaries don't usually get caught, we learned to do it ourselves."_

"_Some, like Mewtwo, do it through sheer force of will. But Latios and I do it by focusing the connection we have through our Soul Dew."_

Before Dash could ask what a Soul Dew was, Discord poked his head into her field of view. "As much as I hate to interrupt a budding friendship," He dangled a camera from his talon. "I set up a camera before the race started in case of a photo finish."

Dash gaped at him. "What took you so long to tell us?"

Discord grimaced. "Took me awhile to find the camera. Have you seen this place?" He kicked an upturned chair, it folded itself and clattered to the ground. "It's a total mess."

Dash and Latias looked around the clearing, taking in the wreckage for the first time. They both laughed nervously.

"Uh huh, anyway, I'm going to develop this." A room appeared next to him. "I'll be in the dark room, give me a minute."

Once Discord walked into the room and locked the door, Pinkie turned to Latias. "What's a Soul Dew?"

"_They're items Latias and I have,"_ Latios answered with a smile. _"They increase our attack and defense, and as long as we're within range of each other, and the other's Soul Dew, we get a boost in Psychic power too."_

"_We keep them right next to our hearts."_ Latias smiled.

"Aww." Pinkie cooed.

"_No, literally."_ Latias said. _"They're part of us, we can just remove them if we need to,"_ She looked to her brother and smiled softly, though the Ponies looked a bit queasy at the image THAT gave them. _"For whatever reason."_

At that point Discord walked out of the dark room, holding a picture in his talon. He had an almost nervous expression on his face.

"Finally," Dash said. "So, who won?"

Discord handed Dash the picture. "I enhanced it with magic so you could actually see it." He said. "But I didn't mess with the outcome."

Latias looked over Dash's shoulder. They both eyeballed the photo for a moment, then looked to each other, then back at the picture.

"We tied?!"

"_We tied?"_

They both asked.

"Apparently." Discord said, taking a few steps back.

"Ugggh!" Dash face hooved. "You know what this means right?"

"_That you finally met an opponent who's your equal?"_ Latias asked.

"Well... maybe. But it also means we're going to have to race again." Dash smirked. "Maybe on a bigger race course this time."

Latias smirked. _"Anytime, anywhere."_

Dash's eyes narrowed. "How about-"

"Not right now." Fluttershy interrupted. "I think we could use some help with the clean up," She gestured to the mess. "If you don't mind."

Dash and Latias looked at each other, then Dash shouted. "First one to finish picks the next race track!"

* * *

Twilight hummed a familiar tune to herself as she sorted through some of her notes. Her conversation with Gene and Belle earlier had provided some interesting points on Earth's social structure. Although Juniper told her they were likely more than a little biased.

Speaking of Juniper, the Pokémon Professor was floating in front of a mirror she had brought down from Twilight's room for a test she ran on Mage. The reason being was that she had managed to find a lab coat while getting some supplies from Twilight's basement.

"If it was light blue it'd be just perfect." Juniper said. "Oh well, beggars can't be choosers."

Twilight smiled and sorted through a few more pages. "Juniper? How familiar are you with-"

Twilight was interrupted by a knock at her door. She sighed. "Doesn't anypony know what privacy means?"

"Isn't this a public library?" Juniper asked. She focused her Psychic a bit and the door swung open a crack. "Yes!" She cheered, happy to FINALLY be making progress.

Two Pokémon Twilight had never seen before pushed the door open the rest of the way, two smaller ones on their shoulders. "Hi." One of the greeted. "I'm Solana and this is Lunick."

_Probably former humans._ Twilight thought to herself.

"We're looking for Princess Twilight?"

"You found her." Twilight walked up to the pair. "What can I do for you?... is this is about going back to Earth or something? If yes, then I'm sorry, but I can't really do anything about it."

Lunick shook his head. "No, we were told you might be able to help us with something."

Juniper floated over to them, her eyes widened once she saw the red head bands they were wearing. _Oh please let me be wrong about this._ She thought as she floated over to Twilight's notes and began absentmindedly organizing them.

"What do you need?" Twilight asked.

Solana stepped forward. "Your highness, Lunick and I are Pokémon Rangers, these are our Partner Pokémon, Plusle and Minun."

Juniper froze in her work, which left a few papers floating in midair for a second before they fluttered to the ground.

Twilight smiled politely and said. "I haven't met any Pokémon Rangers yet, just some Trainers and Gym Leaders."

Lunick smiled. "Well your highness-"

"You can just call me Twilight." Twilight interrupted.

"Twilight," Lunick said with a smile. "Pokémon Rangers are a form of law enforcement back on Earth, specifically founded to protect Pokémon."

"And we recently encountered a known fugitive who the Union's been after for some years now." Solana added.

Juniper would have been gritting her teeth if she still had any.

"And we can't arrest him because we don't have any authority here, and he's using what Lord Arceus did as a way to rationalize his crimes."

Twilight thought for a moment, remembered what she'd learned over the past few days, then frowned. "Is this about Gene and Belle?"

Solana's smile faded. "So you know them."

"Yeah," Twilight said. "And I'm happy to count him as a friend. Belle too." Twilight didn't want to play favorites but... her sister in law was the Princess of Love. Enough said.

"Twilight," Lunick said. "You've only heard _his_ side of the story, don't you think you should hear the side who actually obeyed the law?"

Juniper turned to Twilight and the Rangers. Hoping the Alicorn wouldn't listen to this, she hated hearing it every time.

Twilight thought on the matter for a moment. _I don't see why not. It'll give me some more insight in Earth's culture too. And besides, its only fair to hear both sides first._

"Alright," Twilight said, and Juniper felt like banging her head against the table. "But this had better be purely factual. I don't want you bashing anyone based on their love life."

Juniper sighed, though she really should have expected this. Twilight always tried to be a reasonable person, and thus was willing to listen to all sides before making a decision... didn't mean she had to like it though. And with that, she floated into the kitchen. She was going to need something to calm her nerves. Maybe some tea.

Twilight pulled a mostly empty notebook to her and sat down in one of the chairs, motioning for Lunick and Solana to take the coach.

"To start off with, what are you?" Twilight asked, before clarifying, "Pokémon wise."

"I'm a Hitmontop, and Solana is a Medicham." Lunick answered. Twilight nodded and continued.

"So," Twilight began, writing down some notes on the subjects. "Why don't you tell me just what being a Pokémon Ranger entitles?"

"We're a form of international law enforcement specializing in the protection of Pokémon and their habitats." Solana answered.

"And how do you do this?" Twilight asked. "With Pokémon you capture?"

"Yes, but not like Trainers." Lunick explained. "We use a device called a Capture Stylus to send feelings of friendship to wild Pokémon and get them to help us when we need them."

Twilight nodded and underlined the phrase 'feelings of friendship'. So far they seemed reasonable enough, so she was glad she wouldn't have to worry about dealing with something similar to her talk with Hard Proof again.

"Ok, now why don't you explain to me, as unbiasedly as you can, the situation involving Belle, Gene, and the... Ranger Union right?"

Solana and Lunick looked at each other, then whispered something. "Well Princess," Solana started. "As you know, Human and Pokémon relationships are extremely forbidden on Earth."

"Yes, Gene and Korrina and Falkner and several others have made that clear." Twilight thought for a moment. "And I'm still a bit confused, Pokémon are obviously intelligent enough to make their own choices. Or else every Pokémon I've met has been an exception."

Lunick frowned. "The thing is... you know how trainers capture their Pokémon?"

"Pokéballs." Twilight answered calmly, even if she still didn't quite like the idea of those things.

Lunick nodded and continued. "You see Twilight, a Pokémon bonds with its Trainer, and since Pokémon are usually captured in their first form, and they're usually young at that point. They can be... conditioned."

From the kitchen Twilight heard Juniper mumbling something about not being able to drink.

"This can lead to, in some cases, a form of a condition called Stockholm Syndrome, where-"

"Where a captive forms an emotional bond with their captor." Twilight finished. "We have a similar thing called Stockhooves Syndrome." Twilight was beginning to pick up on some parallels between Equus and Earth, mainly in the naming of certain things.

"Right," Solana said with a smile. "So the people who start a relationship with their Pokémon condition them to love them from a young age, then take the relationship to the," She actually shivered in disgust. "Next level, when they evolve."

Twilight paused in her note taking. From a certain perspective, that made sense... and she could see what they were trying to say... but she also noticed that a few things did stick out about their argument.

"Ok, first off, your saying that every trainer who's ever fallen in love with their Pokémon, and vice versa. Conditioned them to love them?" Twilight asked.

Solana and Lunick looked at each other, doubt on their faces, thinking over what she just said. Now that they actually thought about, they realized that that fact never was confirmed or denied in ANY reported arrests. "How many reports of Poképhilia are there each year?" Twilight asked.

"A hundred maybe?" Solana asked. "It's a hard crime to pin down."

"Actually before I forget, I want to point something out," Twilight said. "You keep saying the _crime_ is referred to as Poképhilia, but if Equish and English are as alike in roots as they are in structure and sound, then Poképhilia is derived from the 'Poké' in Pokémon and 'Philia' meaning 'love or affection'."

Solana thought for a second. "That sounds about right."

Twilight blinked as the small holes she had noticed just got bigger. "Just so I'm clear, the crime is actually loving a Pokémon as you would a member of your own species?" At this she frowned slightly.

Lunick thought about it for a moment, before nodding in confirmation, telling her that she was right. Her frown only deepened at the response.

"Ok, now a question. Are Pokémon just as intelligent as humans? Or do you think they're all less intelligent than you?"

"It... depends," Solana said slowly. "Some, like Metagross, Alakazam, and Haxorus are more intelligent. Most Pokémon are at least human level in their final form, although quite a few are more instinctually driven. Pokémon in their first form are usually comparable to children, unless they choose not to evolve for whatever reason."

"So, basically, the answers yes?" Twilight asked.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Lunick said with a frown. "But yes."

"How about emotionally? Equal? Lesser? What?"

"Again, it depends." Lunick explained. "Some Pokémon. Chansey, Togekiss... Gardevoir, are actually capable of sensing, and sometimes controlling portions of the emotional spectrum." He thought for a moment, then continued. "Some Pokémon, Tyranitar or Hydreigon for example, are naturally more aggressive. But it's not the same throughout the species."

"It differs from Pokémon to Pokémon, depending on their personality, how they were raised, and that part doesn't matter if it's by a Trainer or their parents." Solana added.

"But the general answer is yes?" Twilight repeated.

"In most cases, yes. Especially with final forms." Lunick concluded, not really sure what she was trying to get at.

"Great. Next question. Are Pokémon capable of making choices on their own?"

"Of course we are!" Minun cried indignantly. "I chose to be Lunick's partner Pokémon."

Twilight couldn't help but smile as the little Electric-type pouted and crossed his arms while Plusle patted him on the back, comforting her friend. It was really cute, and it helped to confirm her opposing ideas aside, these two were good people and truly did care for the Pokémon they protected, if the emotions Minun was showing were any indication

"Good, now for a few quick scenarios. Say a Pokémon chooses to join their trainer for whatever reason, and on their journey, the two fall in love. What is that to you?"

"Poképhilia." Solana answered immediately. That was usually how the arrested trainers pleaded their case.

"Ok, but what if they're the final form of that Pokémon family say... I don't know, a Delphox instead of a Fennekin."

Lunick and Solana looked at each other for a moment, not exactly sure how to answer that, but ultimately came to the same conclusion. "Still Poképhilia." Solana answered, but this time she sounded less assured.

Twilight nodded. "Ok, what if a human who's not a trainer, doesn't matter the profession. Befriends a wild Pokémon and after a while, they fall in love?"

"Uhh..." Lunick looked to Solana neither of them said anything for a moment. "Poképhilia?" At this point even they weren't sure if that was the right answer anymore.

"Why?" Twilight asked, as their answers had just confirmed what she suspected. "On the last two scenarios, there was barely any chance of Stockhooves Syndrome occurring, and almost none in the third one."

"Because," Solana started, a lump forming in her throat at the implications she was beginning to realize. "They're still in... a... relation... ship..."

"So the crime isn't meant to stop trainers from abusing their Pokémon's trust, or just abusing them. It's actually designed to prevent a Pokémon and a human from falling in love no matter the case." Twilight said with a frown. The more she was hearing, the more she questioned just how much the law REALLY was for the Pokémons' sakes.

It wasn't a question, but Solana nodded anyway, albeit hesitantly. That just confirmed Twilight's suspicions.

"So then you're preventing what you see as two equally sapient beings from loving each other in any way other than friendship based solely on their species?"

Lunick and Solana looked to each other again. Confusion and disbelief on their faces. That WASN'T what the law was supposed to mean... as far as they believed at least. "Y... yes." Lunick finally said, as like it or not, that was exactly what their entire conversation had ended up implying.

"So then either the laws are completely based off a sense of racial purity, or Pokémon aren't equal enough to be able to truly love?" Twilight asked.

"Ok, now you're going too far!" Solana snapped. Princess or not, she wasn't about to let Twilight get away with THAT comment about the Pokémon. "We do what we do to protect Pokémon from sicko's who want to take advantage of them."

"But," Twilight said calmly. "You just agreed that the only parameters you need to arrest someone for Poképhilia, or loving a Pokémon, are that they... love their Pokémon. That could be interpreted as a kiss, a loving glance shared from across the room, how they act around each other, even just holding hands."

"What?! Don't _you_ have laws governing things like this?" Solana demanded.

"No. We have laws preventing bestiality, which only applies to _animals_. Not other sapient races."

Solana was shocked silent for a moment, then through clenched teeth she asked. "Are you implying that we view Pokémon as mindless beasts?"

"No, no, no," Twilight apologized. "Not at all. It just seems that you don't really see them as equals."

Solana didn't answer. "One last thing," Twilight said. "Has this stigma against Poképhilia been drilled into you, by your parents, by society, since you were old enough to deal with that kind of thing? I'm assuming around the ages ten to twelve, and I'm being conservative."

Solana though back, to when her parents had first given her "The talk." After hearing the textbook. "When a man and a woman love each other very much-" She had asked what if the man or woman loved a Pokémon.

Her parents had told her straight that even the idea of a relationship like that was very. Very. VERY bad. And that if she ever heard of one, she should go to a Ranger Base and tell a Ranger.

Meanwhile Lunick remembered the life and health class he had gone through before heading to Ranger School. How the sex unit had been handled. How the teacher had sent a child to the principal's office after he continued pointing out similarities between humans and some Pokémon and asking why it was wrong.

"But... but they can't reproduce." Solana said, trying to find something to defend the rule that they had honestly believed was made for the sake and protection of Pokémon, and not to serve some-she dreaded the idea-racist ideal that viewed Pokémon as lower/inferior to humans when they had always believed Pokémon to be the equals and companions of humans. Heck, it was the reason why the two of them were amongst the top Rangers when dealing with crimes that involved the use and/or abuse of Pokémon.

Twilight looked up from her notes and cocked her head, as she decided to 'deliver the final blow' to a case that at this point was so full of holes, it barely held any weight to her anymore. "How does Earth handle same sex relationships?" She asked, as Solana's argument applied to that sort of relationship as well

Solana felt her heart drop when she realized the answer. "They've... been accepted for decades."

Twilight wrote that down. "So tell me, if Pokémon are fully sapient beings, fully capable of feeling complex emotions and acting on those emotions of their own free will. Why is every human/Pokémon relationship considered a crime against nature?"

The Rangers thought hard for a moment, trying to find ANY reason other than the now painfully obvious reason that went against everything they believed in, and sadly for them, they didn't find any. So with heads hanging in shameful realization, they answered. "Because... because..." Solana felt tears stinging her eyes as the truth, the REAL truth and not those seemingly noble lies that had been fed to them for years, was laid bare before them. "Because they're different species." She finished, looking like her entire world had just been smashed to pieces

"Arceus," Lunick said in shock and disgust. "All this time...and it was just because they're different?" Lunick recalled the few cases of Poképhilia they had made arrests on, remembering how devastated both the humans and Pokémon seemed in many of them. At the time they hadn't thought anything about it, as they had viewed the humans as sick and inhuman people who only deserved to be locked up, while they thought the Pokémon as victims of the depravity of some humans. Now that they realized that some, if not many of those couples might REALLY have been in love, AND that the law that was viewed as one of the most important laws enforced for Pokémon protection, might have really been started by some racist ideal that viewed Pokémon as inferior to humans... He felt nauseous.

It was at this point that Juniper floated out of the kitchen, holding a cup of tea, but pouting. "-Solar energy, possibly radiation, absorbs liquid from the surrounding air most likely," She sighed. "But not tea."

Her eyes fell on the Rangers sitting on the couch, and while she had been expecting a lot of thing, the broken looks on their faces, like someone had just told them that everything they believed in was a lie, was NOT something she had expected to see. "Twilight? What's going on?"

"Umm..." Twilight hadn't really meant to bring out this kind of reaction. "Progress... I think? ... you have a Phd. in psychology right?"

* * *

Luna sipped her tea and smiled as the temperature in her room dropped. It was just after eleven and Luna had managed to get some sleep, plus a trip to the dreamscape, before her student was scheduled to arrive.

"_Greetings Princess."_ Darkrai said as he rose from the shadows on the floor.

"Hello Darkrai," She said with a smile. "I trust you enjoyed the party last night?" Luna had almost accompanied Darkrai to the party, but her duties in the dreamscape had kept her from it.

Darkrai smiled softly. _"Yes, Cresselia and I... it was fun."_

Luna smirked. She knew sending Darkrai to the party had been the right thing to do, especially after hearing Cresselia was going.

"Good, now come with me. There's something I want to show you." As Luna lead Darkrai out of her room, he expected her to take him to her personal library again. Instead, he followed her down several flights of stairs until they came to a set of large doors.

"I've set up something special for you tonight," Luna said as she pushed the doors open.

Darkrai floated into the room behind Luna. It was a large domed room, with various bits of equipment scattered near the edges. "I sent my Lunar Guard on a training exercise near Cloudsdale so that we would be able to train in peace." Luna walked out to the center of the training room.

She lit her horn and a small dome grew at her hooves. After a few minutes, she stopped and examined the bubble. Apparently pleased with her work, she moved to a new spot and began again. She repeated the process ten times, leaving ten glowing domes on the field.

"_What is this?"_ Darkrai asked.

"These are dream sphere's." Luna explained. "They're an invention of mine which I designed to hold dreams, just in case I ever needed to record a particularly odd one. These one's I've based off the dreams you would find on any average night in the dreamscape, and altered them from the original versions."

"_Interesting,"_ Darkrai said. _"What do you want me to do?"_

Luna smiled. "Your biggest issue is that you lack the subtle touch needed to control dreams," She gestured to the field. "This will let you hone your skills without endangering anyone."

"_But we've only been training for two days,"_ Darkrai argued. _"I'm nowhere near ready."_

"And you never will be with that attitude." Luna said with finality. "You know how dream magic works, and your power appears to be compatible with Equestrian magic. Now it's time to test it out." Luna was going for a more hooves on approach.

Luna pushed Darkrai towards the sphere's. The Dark-type reluctantly placed himself in the center of the field.

"Whenever you are ready, my young pupil." Luna said, mimicking what her sister often said.

"_I'm at least a few hundred years older than you."_ Darkrai said. _"Probably at least a millennia."_

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to guess at a mares age?" Luna teased.

Darkrai raised an eyebrow. _"Lord Arceus made me from the darkness of the new moon and the energy of nightmares. You could say the night itself is my mother."_

Luna had no response for that. "Just... show me what you can do."

Darkrai sighed and sent his consciousness into the dreamscape. He felt the dreams contained within the dream spheres. As well as his the nightmaric tendrils of his power reaching for them.

"_Concentrate on containing your power,"_ He quoted one of the books he had read. _"You cannot let your own magic interfere with the original dream."_

As he said that, one of his tendrils reached into one of the dreams, a common dream that seemed to be about flying. As Darkrai's energy took hold, the sky darkened, and the pony went from flying to falling in an instant.

"_Control."_ Darkrai said. As the pony in the dream continued to fall, the other dreams began to degrade as well. Fantasies, lucid dreams, even the two nightmares Luna had included became more and more horrific.

Darkrai strained himself trying to pull back his energy. _"I can do this."_ He told himself. _"For her."_Darkrai thought of Cresselia, he thought back to his own nightmare a few nights ago. In that moment, Darkrai felt his own energy pull back into him just a little bit, as if someone had lit a candle in a dark room.

Before Darkrai could get over the shock, one of the dreams crashed as the dreamer met their demise. This caused a chain reaction in Darkrai's magic, making all the dreams crash.

Darkrai dropped from the dreamscape, panting. Luna ran up beside him. "Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"_I failed."_ He grumbled.

"Perhaps, but I saw your energy, the portion that causes nightmares, retreat back into you. If only for a second," Luna smiled and put a wing around Darkrai. "That, my student, is progress."

Darkrai smiled.

"Now, I'll set the sphere's up again, and we'll see how well you do this time." Luna trotted off to begin the exercise again.

Darkrai did his best not to groan. _"This is going to be a long night."_


	30. Chapter 27

Gene smiled as he made his way through Ponyville, it was just past ten and he was on his way to Twilight's. He and Belle had gotten up earlier today because Belle had convinced him that, since he was a Gallade now, he could use some training.

Likewise, Gene had convince Belle to invite Korrina, Misty, and the other former humans. He was currently on his way to Twilight's to see if Juniper or Falkner wanted to come. He hoped Twilight would know where the latter was, as he had no idea where the Flying Gym Leader was staying.

Gene was smiling because he found it funny that his Pokémon were going to train him...though he was a little worried about what Mage had planned.

"If I know Juniper," Gene said as he knocked on the door to the library. "Then she's probably too engrossed in studying to even answer my questions."

"Sorry but the- Oh, hi Gene." Spike said as he opened the door.

Gene smiled. "Hi Spike, are Twilight or Juniper in?"

Spike looked at him in confusion for a second. "I think that translation spell wore off."

Gene thought for a second. "That would explains some of the looks I got from some ponies."

Spike sighed. "I'll get Twilight." He closed the door leaving Gene standing alone for a few seconds before Twilight opened it.

"Hi Gene," Gene noticed that Twilight was holding a cup of coffee in her magic. "Spike said you needed a new translation spell?"

"Actually I..." He thought for a second, then tried something. Focusing his thoughts as he had done countless times before with Belle, he pushed his thoughts towards Twilight. _"Actually, Belle and the others are going to start training me, Korrina, Misty, and May. I was coming to see if Juniper wanted to come,"_After a second he added. _"And if you knew where Falkner flew off to."_

A look of concern flashed across Twilight's face. _"Don't worry, no one's gonna get hurt."_

"It's not that," Twilight said. "It's... well, see for yourself."

Twilight stepped aside and Gene walked in, he stopped when he saw Juniper was passed out on the couch. _"Late night studying?"_ Gene asked.

"It was more-"

"She was talking to us." Gene turned to and saw Solana standing in the stairway.

"Solana?" Gene asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We-" There was a faint flash from Twilight as she recast the translation spell.

"Sorry, wanted to make sure I understood everyone." She apologized. "Carry on."

Solana turned back to Gene. "We came here yesterday after what your pony friend told us, about a Princess living here. We... we were," Her voice quivered. "We came to see if there was any way that... that..."

Gene saw tears begin to run down the Medicham's face. "Uhh," Gene rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I don't know what's going on, should I go?"

At that point Solana jumped down the last few steps, then ran forward and wrapped her arms around Gene.

"Watch the spike, watch the spike!" He knew from experience that while the spike wouldn't pierce anything, it could still leave one heck of a bruise.

"I... I'm sorry." She choked. "We were going to try to arrest you and..." Solana couldn't finish.

Gene turned to Twilight. "What did you do to her?" He asked.

Twilight laughed nervously. "I asked her, and Lunick, a few questions, then things kind of... escalated."

"She pointed out that the laws banning Poké..." Lunick stopped himself as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "The laws banning relationships like yours weren't for the sake of protecting Pokémon."

Solana finally released her grasp on Gene and walked over to Lunick. Gene looked between them and Twilight a few times. "I'm... what?" Gene had tried to talk sense into people before, he usually ended running from the cops.

Solana wiped her eyes. "We're sorry for what we said yesterday," She apologized. "And for... everything else."

Gene stared at the Rangers in shock. He was use to hearing "Freeze," And having all matters of obscenities and insults thrown at him, not apologies.

Lunick grabbed Solana's hand and smiled at her. "I know it can't make up for everything you've been through but... on behalf of the Ranger Union," He turned to Gene. "We're sorry for everything you've had to endure since Unova."

Gene's eyes widened in surprise, but a second later he closed them and smiled. "Thank you." He said, opening his eyes and smiling at the Rangers. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

Solana smiled and said. "Gene, if it's all the same to you, could we forget about yesterday and... you know, start over?"

Gene chuckled and held out his hand. "Sure, I'm Gene. Pleased to meet you."

"Solana, Top Ranger from Fiore." She shook Gene's hand.

"Lunick, same title, same Region." He did the same.

Gene grinned. "Anyway, Belle and a few other Pokémon are going to be training me and some other former humans, you two wanna come?"

Lunick and Solana looked to each other. "Thanks for the offer." Lunick said. "But we need some time alone right now."

"Some other time maybe?" Solana added.

"Sounds good to me," He turned to Twilight. "We'll be just outside of town if you need anything."

Twilight nodded and Gene made his way to the door. "Oh, and don't let Juniper sleep too late. She freaks out if she sleeps past noon."

Twilight nodded and Gene exited the library, smiling, but for an entirely different reason than when he entered.

* * *

"You have to focus." Lucario said.

"I AM focusing!" Korrina replied.

Lucario sighed. "Perhaps a demonstration will help."

Korrina grumbled and moved out of the way. For the past hour, Lucario had been training her. And while she was doing well in hand to hand combat, she hadn't yet gotten the hang of using actual attacks.

"Watch me," Lucario's eyes glowed blue for a moment and a club of solid aura appeared in his paws. "Bone Rush."

Lucario jumped forward and swung the weapon through his target. Literally. "You know, when I volunteered to help you two," Mage glared at the Fighting-types. "I didn't think I'd be the target."

"You're a Ghost-type. Fighting-type moves don't work on you, and with your ability, neither do Ground-types." Lucario said with a shrug.

Lucario walked back over to Korrina. "You understand the physical portion of a battle, but not so much the mental or spiritual portions."

"Yeah, yeah, I have to unlearn what I think I know about battling," Korrina sighed. So far she'd managed to use Quick Attack and had an Aura Sphere blow up in her face.

Lucario chuckled. "Don't worry, remember when I had trouble controlling my power in Mega Form? This is like that. The more you practice, the better you'll get."

Korrina didn't answer. "Why don't we give some more physical moves a go," Lucario suggested. "Metal Claw for example?"

Upon hearing that, Mage's eyes widened. "Aaaand, that's my cue to leave." And she disappeared.

Lucario rolled his eyes and nodded for Korrina to proceed. The former Gym Leader stepped forward and tapped her chin, so far she had been good with using physical attacks, and Metal Claw was one of those.

"Metal Claw." As Korrina called out the move, the spikes on her paws began to glow, and split into three glowing claws, one over each of her digits. "Coool," she said as she examined them.

Korrina grinned and looked around for something to hit. Spotting a boulder, she rushed forward and racked her claws across its surface.

A moment after she passed it, two slices of rock near the top slid off the rock.

Korrina grinned as her claws reverted back to normal. "What should I try next?" She asked, turning to Lucario who just smiled in response to her enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, a fair distance away, May stood in the center of a small clearing, a look of uncertainty on her face. "Are you sure about this?"

Blaziken, leaning on a tree a few yards away, smiled. "Positive. We're not near any buildings so don't worry about burning anything down."

May gulped, not exactly reassured by his answer. She had managed to use a few moves when she and Blaziken scared the Aggron out of Trottingham, but she hadn't really known what she was doing at the time.

"Just focus on your inner fire," Blaziken offered. "Try to control it. Tell it what you want it to do."

"Alright," May closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "F-Fire Spin."

A moment later, May felt the air around her heating up. She opened her eyes to see that she was in the center of a vortex of flames, and that she wasn't getting burned, thankfully.

"Well done May," Blaziken said. "Now... do you think you can stop it?" The vortex was beginning to grow.

May dropped her arms but the vortex kept spinning. "H-help!"

Blaziken jumped into the vortex and landed next to May. "Just calm down," He put a talon on her shoulder. "You have to relax."

May took another deep breath and focused on the fire, the dangerous, burning fire that was spinning all around her. She shook her head. _I'm a Fire-type, and it's my fire. I can't get burned, and it can't hurt me._

As May fought her instincts that were screaming for her to scream and hide, Blaziken watched as the vortex began to slow down. _She's a natural._ He thought as the attack came to a stop.

"May, you can open your eyes now."

May did just that and smiled. "I did it!" She cried happily.

Blaziken smiled. "That you did... I wonder," He scratched his chin and looked over May's form. He had seen other Delphoxes before in a few contests they had competed in, and noticed that something was missing here. "Wait here." Blaziken walked over to the tree he had been leaning on and examined it for a moment.

After a few seconds he leapt upward into the branches and snapped off a branch. Landing on the ground, he stripped the branch of the few leaves on it and seared off some of the points.

"Here," He handed the stick to May. "Delphox use these to focus their powers, both Fire and Psychic."

May passed the stick between her paws, and was surprised by how... right it felt. Like it had always belonged to her. A small flame flickered to life at the end of the stick as she examined it. "Why'd it do that?" She asked.

"Maybe it's responding to you." Blaziken had no idea how a Delphox's powers worked, but he wasn't going to let May know that. Not when she needed all the support she could get. "Why don't you try a more powerful attack," he suggested. "You used Flamethrower the other day."

"And I nearly set the town on fire," May reminded him dryly. Despite that, May turned away from the trees and towards the dirt path leading out of Ponyville and raised her new 'wand'. "Flamethrower!" A torrent of fire shot from the end of the stick, much larger than it had been at Trottingham, and more importantly, with better (albeit still quite messy) control than when it shot out of her finger tips.

"Eeep!" May dropped the stick in shock, cutting off the attack. She stared at it for a second before saying, "I think it worked."

Blaziken chuckled. "I think so. Now we just need to work on your control."

A bit further down the path, Gene stood facing several logs that had been positioned upright on their side. "I don't know about this…" He said.

"What're you worried about?" Belle asked. "We know that these," She poked his blades. "Are sharp enough to cut wood. Now you're just putting force behind them."

Misty sat nearby, waiting for Gene to finish his training first. Since the only Pokémon from her team she'd encountered so far was Togepi, Gene had offered to give her some pointers, as apparently one of his Pokémon was some kind of Water-type. Now she just watched as Gene took his position in front of the first log.

"Just try to cut this one, ok?" Belle asked.

"Alright." Gene looked at the log. It was thicker than anything he had accidently cut through so far. Suddenly his eyes fell on a portion about halfway up the center and he rushed forward, halfway to the log his blades extended and…

_*SLICE*_

Half of the log fell away and Gene couldn't help but stare. The log was at least a foot thick, and he had cut through it like a hot knife through butter.

Belle walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good job sweetie," She smiled. "Now why don't you try an attack this time."

Gene nodded and stepped in front of the second log. _"What kind of moves do Gallade know?"_ All Gene knew was that they had a different natural move set than Gardevoir.

"_Psycho Cut, Slash, Fury Cutter, Close Combat, Double Team,"_ Belle listed a few more moves. _"I looked them up in your Pokédex a while back, just in case."_

Gene smiled and prepared to attack. "Slash." Gene's blades glowed white as the Gallade ran forward and sliced through the second log. This one landed several feet away from the force of the attack.

Belle applauded her mate. "Alright, how about one more, then you can help Misty train."

"Sounds good." Gene moved in front of the final log and stared it down. Gene rushed forward once more and raised his blade, he meant to see if he could use Psycho Cut. But as he quickly approached his target another attack came to mind. "Leaf Blade."

To the surprise of everyone present, his blades began to glow green and extended slightly as Gene approached the log he crossed his blades and sliced both through the log, cutting it into three parts.

Gene watched as the green glow faded and his blades returned to normal. "Is that... normal?"

Belle though for a moment, trying to remember what the Pokédex had said. "I... I'm not sure, I don't think there's anything wrong with that... we'll ask Juniper later.

Gene just nodded and stared at his blades for another second before turning to Misty. "Alright, you ready?"

Misty nodded and walked over to him. "You really have experience in training Water-types?"

"Well... not Water-types persay," Gene admitted. "But River knows a lot of Water moves, so it should translate."

Misty sighed."What Pokémon is River?" Misty knew there was no substitute for a proper Water-type, she had trained all manner of Water-types at the Cerulean Gym, Gyarados, Dugong, Luvdisc. And no matter how many Water-type moves a Pokémon could learn they never made up for a real Water-type

"River's a Dragonair." Gene said.

... That one might be an exception.

"Really?"

Gene smiled and nodded. "I found her in the Safari Zone when she was just a little Dratini."

"Well..." Misty admitted. "It's better than nothing." She understood why some trainers mistook the Dratini family for a Water-type group. They could learn a large number of Water-type moves and their first two forms lived in lakes and rivers.

"Well then," Gene clapped his hand together. "Let's get started."

* * *

Mage stifled a laugh as a water logged Gene tried to keep his balance. "It's not funny Mage!" He shouted... at the opposite direction.

"Gene, I am SO sorry!" Misty apologized.

"It's alright." He sighed.

"I just got kind of excited and I missed the target."

"I know, it's alright Misty."

"I probably should've waited to try out Water Pulse, huh? Maybe I should have started with Bubble, or Water Gun."

Gene shook his head as Belle sat down next to him. "You alright sweetie?"

"Yeah, it's not the first time I've been confused," Gene smiled and chuckled. "Remember when you first learned Confusion when you were a Ralts?"

Belle blushed. "It wasn't funny," She mumbled. "I thought I hurt you."

Gene laughed and pulled Belle into a hug. "I'm just teasing, I know it was an accident."

Despite still being unsure about the whole Poképhilia thing, Misty had to admit. They did look cute together. "I think that's enough training for now, huh?"

"Yeah." Gene said. "I wonder how Korrina and May are doing."

Before anyone could offer a response, a scream came from the edge of the Everfree. "What the heck was that?" Belle asked.

"I'll check it out." Mage said, floating towards the forest.

"Mage!" Gene called. "Get back here, it could be dangerous!"

Ignoring her trainer, Mage floated towards the forest where the sound had-

"HELLLPP!" A silver form burst from the brush just as Mage reached the forest, taking the Mismagius by surprise and knocking her to the ground.

"Ouch!" Mage phased through the squirming object and saw that it was an Aron, the young Steel-type now curled up in a ball on the ground.

"Uhh, it's ok kid, I'm not gonna hurt you." Mage always hated that for her meeting new people usually meant explained that she wasn't going to curse them, though she tried not to get angry about it.

The Aron didn't open its eyes. "S-s-shadows. C-castle. D-d-darkness."

Now Mage was getting worried. "What's wrong? What castle?"

The Aron mumbled what sounded like, "Accursed one." Before passing out.

Mage's eyes widened. "Belle! Get help! NOW!" Mage wrapped one of her 'arms' around the sleeping Aron to comfort him. "And, if it's not too much trouble could you, I don't know. Hurry?!"

* * *

Fluttershy hummed softly as she stroked the sleeping Aron. Trying to ignore what was quickly becoming a shouting match between Mage and Twilight.

"I'm telling you," Mage whined. "He ran out of the forest, said something about an 'accursed one' then passed out."

"Well what's the accursed one? Some kind of Pokémon?" Twilight asked.

Mage scoffed, and the other Pokémon present sighed or rolled their eyes. "Twilight," Gene began. "HALF of the Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon currently known could be called that depending on who you're asking."

"Really?" Twilight asked. She had not been expecting that answer, and it... wasn't what she had hoped for.

"My dog, who is a Dark-type Pokémon, breathes fire that leaves an everlasting burn when he's mad and Mage's species, Mismagius, has a bad reputation and are often associated with witches, and in a bad way at that." Gene explained dryly. He never did like how much a lot of people and Pokémon judged simply based on type... even if some of them DID deserve it.

"And we're not even the worst." Mage chuckled, finding the expression on Twilight's face amusing.

"That's just... Gahh!" Twilight face hooved. "So something in the Everfree, probably in the old castle from what Mage told us the Aron said, is scaring Pokémon?"

"Seems about right," Korrina answered.

"And the best description you can give us is that it is _likely_, a Dark or Ghost-type?"

"I suppose a few could be taken out," Belle said. "No one would call a Murkrow accursed, and it's very unlikely a Frillish is in the forest... unless the forest is connected to an ocean."

Twilight sighed and rubbed her temples. With all the issues dealing with the arrival of the Pokémon that still lingered, not to mention the upcoming meeting of the racial leaders, this was the last thing she wanted to have to deal with right now. "Alright, you know what? I'm not going to worry about this. Instead, I'm going to do this." She looked to Belle. "Could you help me get whatever this thing is out of the castle? Or at least make sure it's not going to eat my soul next time I go there?"

Belle giggled. "Of course Twilight, I know Shadow Ball which should clear out most Ghost-types, and Moon Blast in case it's a Dark-type."

Twilight nodded. "Anyone else want to come?" _Besides Gene, who's going to say something like-_

"I'm coming. Where Belle goes, I go."

Mage floated over to Twilight. "I'll tag along, this old castle sounds interesting."

"Me too!" Pinkie added. "If this Pokémon's all alone in that dank old castle, then they probably didn't come to my party."

Twilight was going to protest, but decided not to. "Anyone else?"

Fluttershy just nuzzled the still sleeping Aron and Korrina and Lucario looked at each other before shrugging. "We're resistant to both types." Korrina said. "Though if it's Ghost-type, Fighting moves'll be worse than useless."

"And I'll tag along," Rainbow said. "Just in case you need some air support."

Twilight nodded. "With eight sets of eyes, we should be able to find this... thing, in no time."

"It's probably nothing." Mage said. "I know from experience that most Ghost-types just get a bad rap for being... you know, ghostly."

"But we should still be careful." Twilight defended. "Juniper told me about some of the more dangerous Pokémon." She shivered at the idea of meeting one of those.

"Fair point." Mage had met a few Ghosts who were deserving of the hate they got.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy and the few others staying behind, consisting of May, Blaziken, Misty, and Spike. "If we're not back before sundown..." She sighed. "Send a letter to the Princess and get Discord."

* * *

"That... is a very old castle." Mage said as the group crossed the rope bridge leading to it.

"I said it was over a thousand years old." Twilight said. "What did you expect?"

"I thought it would be better maintained." Mage answered.

Once the group reached one of the doors Twilight stepped in front of them. "Ok, we've got a lot of ground to cover. So I'm thinking we'll split up."

Mage's eyes widened. "Isn't that what you're not suppose to do in situations like this?" She had read a few horror novels back on Earth, and splitting up usually ended badly.

"Don't worry, it's the middle of the afternoon. That only applies at night, and when you don't have super powered bodyguards." Twilight said with a smile.

"Well, how are we splitting up?" Gene asked.

Twilight thought for a moment. "Gene, Belle, you guys go with Pinkie and check the lower levels. Lucario, Korrina, go with Rainbow Dash and look around the west wing. I'll take Mage and scope out the other side of the castle." She made to open the door, then stopped. "Meet back here by four whether you've found anything or not."

Twilight pushed the door open and everyone split up, unaware of just what they were getting themselves into.

* * *

"-And I said oatmeal, are you crazy?"

Gene groaned as he, Belle, and Pinkie made their way through the bowels of the ancient castle. For the last half hour, they had been sharing stories to help pass the time. Unfortunately, Pinkie's usually involved some kind of corny joke, or ended in a pun.

"What's wrong Genie?" Pinkie asked innocently. "Not a fan of jokes?"

Ignoring the nickname, Gene answered. "It's not that, it's just... Mage once got her hands on a book containing one thousand and one groaners," That had actually been the title. "And after a while they just got... annoying was the right word for the first hundred or so."

Belle couldn't help but giggle. "You know it's not actually that bad down here," She looked around. "A little dusty, but it does have a sort of old world charm."

"Yeah, the girls and I have been fixing this place up in our spare time," She looked down a dark hallway. "Thought we've mostly worked on the library."

"This place has a library?" Gene asked. "I think I know where Mage and Twilight are."

Pinkie laughed and for a while they continued on as they had. "You know, one thing does strike me as strange." Belle said as they passed yet another suit of armor.

"What's that?" Gene asked.

"We haven't seen _any_ Pokémon since we got here. No Spinaraks clinging to the ceiling, no Zubats in these old hallways, not even a single Gastly floating through the walls."

"Is that... bad?" Pinkie asked.

"Well... it's not so much bad as it is... unusual. At the very least we should have seen a Zubat by now," She looked around to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. "Those things love places like this, and they live in colonies of hundreds, so there should be quite a few in Equestria."

"You think something scared them all away?" Pinkie was beginning to wonder just what they were looking for.

Gene and Belle shared a look. If whatever they were looking for could scare away a Zubat colony... those things didn't usually care about anything like that. Most people thought it was because they lacked eyes.

"Maybe we should start heading back." Gene said. "The Aron might've just seen a Gengar and got spooked."

Before Belle could respond, something in the back of her mind told her they should hide. Now.

Without any warning she grabbed Pinkie and Gene and dragged them through one of the nearby rooms.

"_Just stay down and stay quiet."_ She said telepathically. _"Something's coming."_

"_What?"_ Gene asked.

"_I don't know yet... do you hear that?"_ The trio waited in silence as the sound slowly got louder.

It sounded like someone was dragging a metal box across the floor, a constant grinding sound that just sounded this side of sinister.

"_What is it?"_ Pinkie asked.

Gene and Belle didn't answer. Instead they watched from the corner of the room as a shadow slowly overtook the doorway.

"Nom nom." A raspy voice called, sending chills down everyone's spin. "I smell yum yums."

Gene put an arm around Belle and pulled her close, and Pinkie did her best to hide behind the Pokémon.

"_Belle, If that thing comes in here,"_ Gene said. _"Hit it with Shadow Ball and Teleport us out of here."_

Belle nodded.

"Where are you, yum yums?" The voice said again, louder this time. "I'm getting hungry."

They watched in horror as a hand comprised completely of shadows grasped the door and, while they couldn't see them. Three more hands, all made of shadows, grasped the walls, ceiling, and floor of the corridor to drag the creature they belonged to along.

"_W-what is-"_ Pinkie stopped mid thought as a blue and gold body came into view. Pinkie couldn't see it very well from her vantage point behind Gene and Belle but the creature had an almost rectangular golden body and a blue and gold headdress. It strongly resembled a sarcophagus, and its face had blood red eyes and a mouth full of pointed teeth.

Gene and Belle both tensed as the Coffin Pokémon paused outside the doorway for a second, then continued forward.

For a moment, no one spoke, no one even dared think, afraid that even that would somehow draw the creature towards them. _"What was that?!"_ Pinkie thought frantically.

"_Cofagrigus,"_ Gene answered, a chill in his voice. _"A Ghost-type Pokémon, and one of the worst in my opinion."_

"_They're violent, nearly impossible to train, and just plain dangerous."_ Belle added.

"_Why's that?"_ Pinkie asked. _"It just sounded hungry to me."_

Gene sighed. _"Pinkie, I don't want to scare you, but Cofarigus eat two things: Gold, and tomb robbers."_

Pinkie nodded and began to think how hard it would be to make a cake out of-... _"WHAT!?"_ Gene and Belle winced at Pinkie's mental scream. _"They eat people!?"_

"_Yeah,"_ Gene said, slowly standing up. _"They're supposedly what remains of a humans spirit after Yamask evolves, usually the really bad, really evil part."_

Pinkie thought for a moment. _"Then how is that thing here? Didn't Arceus say he left bad people and Pokémon like that on Earth?"_

Belle shook her head. _"We said usually."_ In their travels, they had encountered one Cofagrigus who belonged to a good friend of theirs, and he used to play chess with Mage on the weekends. _"And these things are known to go inactive for long periods of time. Arceus might have picked it up thinking it was a Dusk Stone or something like that."_

Pinkie nodded. _"Well how do we get rid of it?"_ Pinkie asked, wanting to know the most important bit of information at the moment. Too bad they didn't have it.

"_That's the question Rangers and government officials have been asking for decades,"_ Gene said._"Those things are extremely durable, their shells are some kind of ethereal metal, and they're pretty much immortal."_

"_A few years ago when an experiment gone wrong by Team Rocket forced several Yamask to evolve in the Desert Resort, a Ranger whose Partner Pokémon was an Aegislash found that the Sword Pokémon could effectively take those things down."_ Belle said, recalling the incident. _"I think the Ranger even survived the whole incident."_

Pinkie's eyes lit up. _"Sooo, that swordy thing that pledged itself to Celestia...?"_ she asked, hoping that they actually did have something that could deal with this thing in reachable distance.

"_That was an Aegislash,"_ Belle confirmed, to which Pinkie sighed in relief. _"But... we'll talk about it later, right now we need to-"_

Belle's eyes went wide and she spun around, raising a force field as a Shadow Ball came through the room.

"Hello nom noms!" The Cofagrigus cried, a grin that would have been at home on the face of a deranged maniac present on its face.

Pinkie screamed.

* * *

Several minutes before, in another part of the castle, a very different encounter was about to take place. Mage was floating after Twilight, holding a few books behind her.

"Ok, nothing in the library," Twilight said.

"Except a few old spell books, which I will be keeping," Mage said with a smile.

"Now we can move onto another part of the castle," She looked up a flight of stairs. "Come on, this is where the bedrooms were."

Mage rolled her eyes and looked over the spell books. She wasn't sure if she could use magic as it was in Equestria, but she was definitely going to try.

As Mage and Twilight made there way up the staircase, Twilight began to wonder just what was going on here. Maybe the Aron had just gotten spooked by some trap door or suit or armor?

"_Leave this place."_ A voice suddenly cried.

"AHH!" Twilight shrieked and jumped into the air in a manner very much reminiscent of a certain cartoon dog... only to fall through Mage and land on the staircase. "Ow!"

Mage sighed and looked around. "Alright mister 'I'm gonna scare everyone away and keep this castle for myself', you get out here right now! You have no right to-"

"Ok, ok." The voice answered. "I was just trying to help." Mage watched as a Gengar materialized in front of her.

The Magical Pokémon scoffed. "Typical," She snorted. "It's alright Twilight, just some trickster wannabe messing around."

Twilight got up and looked at the Pokémon floating in front of her. "This is it?" She asked in surprise. Of all the things she was expecting to see... this wasn't one of them. "Sure, he looks... weird, kinda like a goblin... But he's not that scary."

Gengar crossed his arms. "What are you two going on about?"

"You scared a little Aron out of here earlier!" Mage snapped. "Now get out, this castle belongs to her high royal majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight looked at Mage in confusion.

"I don't know who that is," Gengar shrugged nonchalantly. "But you can tell her that her castle has a serious home wrecker."

"I'm her, I mean, this isn't my... I'm Twilight. What's going on?" Twilight was having trouble keeping track of what these two were saying.

Gengar sighed and sat on the railing. "You've got a rather nasty spirit livin' in your basement Princess."

Mage raised an eyebrow. "You mean... not you?"

The Shadow Pokémon shook his head, which looked as if he was twisting his body. "There's a Cofagrigus in the basement."

Mage dropped the spell books she had been carrying. "A... you're joking right?!" Mage asked in panic.

"I wish," Gengar frowned. "Me and a few others are tryin' to keep others out, but Lampent and Dusclops went to see if the reports of a Sigilyph flyin' round here was true."

Twilight was about to ask why they needed a Sigilyph when she noticed the look on Mage's face. A terrifying mixture of rage and panic that made the Alicorn take a step back. "My family is down there..." Mage said.

Twilight felt the temperature drop.

Gengar frowned. "If they're Ghosts they should be fine. If not..." He shrugged.

Mage's eyes locked on him. "Don't you even THINK that!" She screamed, an ethereal echo added to her voice. "He never gave up on me! And I swore I would never abandon him!"

Twilight was beginning to notice that Mage seemed to be drawing the shadows towards her. She took a few more steps back. Likewise, Gengar floated away from the Mismagius.

Her attention turned to Twilight. "You!" She snapped. "You sent them down there!" Twilight began estimating how much energy it would take to teleport back to the library and hide herself in a book fort. "If _anything_ happens to them, you'll know why people call us witches."

Twilight gulped.

Ignoring both the pony and Pokémon, Mage vanished into thin air.

"Damn." Gengar said. "She's scary."

Before Twilight could reply a scream tore through the castle. One that was very familiar to the Alicorn. "Pinkie!" Twilight cried before rushing down the stairs and towards her screaming friend.

Gengar floated at the top of the top of the stairs for a few second, considering what to do. "Aw hell," He moaned as he floated after Twilight. "Why didn't I go with Lampent instead?"

* * *

Pinkie ran around the small room, some kind of cellar, screaming as Belle held the force field against the attacking Ghost-type.

"Pinkie!" She snapped. "Could you be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate!"

"S-sorry." Pinkie said.

"Gene, plan, can't think right now." The Ghost-type kept trying to force its way through. It took a lot of work to keep it out.

"Right, give me a second."

_If I have Belle use Shadow Ball that could give us a good start,_ He thought, _followed by-_

"Hey ugly!" The Cofagrigus turned to see a Mismagius floating behind him.

"Mage!" Gene shouted. "What are you doing?!"

Mage ignored the question and stared down the Coffin Pokémon. "You want a snack?" A circle of purple flames flickered to life around her. "Try this! Will-O-Wisp!"

The flames shot forward and hit the Cofagrigus, several of them clinging to the ghostly metal.

"GAHHHHHH!" The Cofagrigus hissed. "Puny youngling!" It shouted. "You side with flesh over your own kind?!"

Mage grit her teeth and used Mean Look, increasing her glare. "We are not the same!" Mage shouted. "And I'd chose them any day." She broke into a terrifying grin. "Now get away from my family, or I'll show you what I'm capable of."

The Cofagrigus laughed, a terrible, hissing sound. "You cannot beat me, I have slept for a century. Awaiting the time when it would be safe for our kind to-"

"HEX!" Mage screamed. A purple cloud formed over Mage and shot toward Cofagrigus.

The Cofagrigus, still suffering from the Burns, wheeled back in pain and hit one of the walls.

At that point, Belle dropped the force field and she and Gene rushed forward, Pinkie right behind them.

"Mage," Gene said. "How did you-?"

"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted as she rounded a corner and spotted her friend. "Are you alright? I heard you-AHHH!" Twilight spotted the Cofagrigus as it began to stand itself up.

"You will not stop me," It hissed. "I will-"

"Shadow Ball!" Belle fired the attack at the struggling Ghost-type, embedding it partially in the floor.

"Time to go." Gene said. "Belle, Twilight, Teleport?"

Twilight nodded and grabbed Pinkie while Belle grabbed Mage and Gene. "Gengar!" Twilight called. "We're leaving!"

A few seconds and two flashes of light later everyone appeared in the front room of the castle. After another second, a perturbed Gengar rose from the floor.

"Is everyone alright?" Twilight asked.

"A little shaken up," Gene said. "But ye-" Gene was interrupted as Mage threw herself into his arms. "Mage," Gene began. "Are you-"

"I am not crying, so don't even ask." She warned

Gene smiled. "I was going to ask if you were ok," He said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Twilight sighed, glad everyone was alright.

"Wait!" Pinkie shouted. "Where are Dashie and Korrina and Lucario!"

Everyone started looking around frantically, hoping to spot them. "What if they went into the basement when they heard me scream?" Pinkie asked. "What if that meany, monster got them? We have to-"

"I'm telling you Dash, I heard a scream from this way... oh, hi guys," Korrina said as she walked into the room. Lucario and Rainbow Dash following her. "Did you find the Ghost?"

"It's not that is it?" Dash asked, pointing to Gengar. "Cause I've seen scarier things just wandering around the past few days."

Dash didn't get an answer. Instead, she got a Pinkie Pie crushing her in a bear hug, repeatedly saying how happy she was that she was ok.

Korrina and Lucario turned looked at Gene, who was patting Mage on the back. Obviously trying to comfort her, and then to Belle. "What was it?" They asked together.

Belle sighed. "I prefer to talk about it once we're no longer here, back at the library perhaps."

"Alright," Dash choked, trying to ply Pinkie off of her. "As long as it explains why Pinkie is being so huggy."

Belle nodded. "All in due time."

The Gardevoir lead the group out of the castle, but Twilight lingered behind. "Gengar?" She turned to the Shadow Pokémon. "Once you have... whatever it is your friends are doing taken care of. Come to Ponyville, all of you, I have some questions that I want you to answer. Just ask for directions to the Golden Oaks Library."

"After this gig?" Gengar said. "Only if you're offering food."

"Fine," Twilight said. "Just do it ok?"

"Whatever." Gengar disappeared, and Twilight quickly left the castle, making sure she locked the door behind her. Ghost or not, she wasn't going to take any chances of it getting out... or someone wandering in…


	31. Chapter 28

Princess Celestia paced in her bedroom, thinking about the note Twilight had just sent her.

For one thing, she was extremely upset a creature such as that had been brought to Equus. For another, she was relieved Twilight and her friends were safe. And to top it off, she was finding herself surprisingly upset that such a creature had taken up residence in her old castle.

"First things first," She said to herself. "Talk to Arceus and figure out why that thing's here."

She made her way to the door, but as she opened it her sister fell in. "Hello sister," Luna greeted, getting up and dusting herself off. "I have a report for you."

"Not now Luna," Celestia said. "I have something I need to ask Arceus... and besides, I thought most settlements sent in initial damage reports already." Thankfully damage had been kept to a minimum. Thought the report from Hollow Shades had been... disturbing.

"I know," Luna said. "But this is an update from Manehattan, on which I believe you would be most interested to read." She held the scroll in front of her sisters face.

Celestia sighed and took the scroll in her magic, she unrolled it and began reading. As she read, her expression became... confused. "Luna, this says that most of the major disturbances have all but solved themselves."

"I know," Luna tapped her chin. "It is most peculiar, I assume it could be chalked up to a helpful Pokémon, possibly another transformed human, or just some helpful ponies."

Celestia nodded. "Still, it would probably be a good idea to have someone look into. Preferably someone with experience on the subject."

"So Twilight and her ragtag team of friends?" Luna asked.

Celestia blinked and stared at her sister. "In what way are they a ragtag team?"

Luna shrugged. "Brought together by circumstances beyond their control, vastly differing backgrounds, seems like the textbook definition of ragtag."

Celestia sighed and continued. "Yes, Twilight and her friends." Celestia levitated a quill and paper to her and began writing a letter asking for their assistance once again. "They've proven themselves more than capable of handling things like this already."

Luna nodded her agreement as Celestia sent both the letter and the report from Manehattan to Twilight. "Is there anything else you needed Luna?"

"Yes actually," The Lunar Princess said with a smile. "I'm looking for a good way to motivate my student, he just needs a push in the right direction for him to progress."

Celestia smiled. When Luna had informed her she had taken a student, the Solar Alicorn had been elated to know her sister was passing down some of her wisdom. "I suggest using something that will connect to him personally. Not something from his personal life, but something similar if that's at all possible." Celestia thought for a second then added. "And I'm still waiting for you to introduce me to the student of yours... what did you say his name was?"

"I didn't." Luna said. "He'd prefer if we kept his private life between him and myself for the time being, until he can better control his unique abilities."

Celestia looked shocked for a second, then nodded in understanding. Truth be told she would have rather taken that approach with Twilight at first. "Very well, but I still want to meet him."

Luna smiled and said. "In due time sister." As she exited the room.

Celestia stood there for a moment, remembering what she was going to do, then exited the room saying. "That door should still be with all the stain glass windows."

* * *

Twilight frantically scribbled down notes as she read over the notes she had already taken. "Ghost and Dark-type are best." Twilight jotted down next to a picture of a poorly drawn Cofagrigus. "But why is that?"

Twilight looked over the notes she had on Pokémon types. "If all attacks were energy based, then that might make sense. But some attacks are clearly physical." She held up two sheets of paper. "And yet Grass is strong against Water, even when it's a physical attack."

Ever since they had gotten back from the castle, Twilight had been pouring over her notes on Pokémon. This was partially out of trying to find a solution to the Cofagrigus, but mostly because she was still trying to figure out what type of magic the Pokémon used. "It _has_ to be magic." She told herself again.

She got up and walked over to a blackboard where she had diagrammed the different Pokémon types, what types they were strong against, what types were strong against them, and what types they were ineffective against. "They must be channeling some form of magic in ALL their attacks." She thought for another second. "Or the types themselves are what contain the magic."

She looked at her diagram for Poison-types. "Strong against Fairy, completely ineffective against Steel, even if the Pokémon itself isn't made of or coated in some kind of alloy."

Before Twilight could continue her research, she heard an. "Eerp!" From the kitchen.

A few seconds later Spike came into the room. "Twilight! Letter from the Princess."

Twilight took the letter, no, letters, there was another envelope attached, in her magic and began to read. "Why did the Princess send me a report from Manehattan?" Twilight asked.

Then she read the second one and her eyes widened. "Spike, I've got to go gather everyone, the Princess just gave us a mission!"

About five minutes later, Twilight galloped through town, heading for Sugarcube Corner. Once the building was within sight, she slowed her pace. The line outside the sweet shop was a bit longer than usual, and contained a few Pokémon.

"Excuse me." Twilight said, trotting into the building. "Royal business."

Once Twilight was inside she marveled at how different the store looked, not design wise but... different. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat at one of the tables, sipping milkshakes alongside their Pokémon...yeah, it was probably the Pokémon.

The display case was filled with the normal assortment of sweets, but there were also quite a few things she didn't recognize. "Twilight!" Pinkie called from the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get you," She said. "I just got a letter from Princess Celestia and-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight was surprised to hear Gene's voice come from the kitchen. "The next batch of Poképuffs are ready!"

"Hold that thought Twi." Pinkie rushed out of sight and returned a minute later balancing a tray of what looked like cupcakes on her back.

"Order number twelve?" She called.

While Pinkie was dealing with the customers Twilight decided to investigate what was going on in the kitchen.

She made her way behind the counter and into the kitchen and saw Gene, the Pokémon Pinkie had tried to eat a few days ago, and Pinkie's Rotom. "Gene?" Twilight asked. "What's going on?"

Gene turned and smiled at Twilight. "Hi Twilight, Pinkie asked me if I knew anything about baking treats from Earth, which I do." He held up a bowl of batter. "So, with Slurpuff's help, we've been figuring out what ingredients we can substitute for berries and baking Poképuffs and Poffins."

Twilight watched them for a minute and shook her head. "Alright, I got a letter from Princess Celestia. She wants our help with something."

Gene raised an eyebrow. "What now?"

"Something's going on in Manehattan. I don't want to give all the details now, since I'd just have to tell everyone later." She looked around for Pinkie but she was still up front. "When you're done here could you bring Pinkie to the library?"

Gene nodded. "Sure."

Twilight smiled and made to leave, then she realized something. "Where's Belle? I don't see her around."

Gene grinned. "She's at Rarity's going over designs for her wedding dress." Gene got this far away look in his eyes and a goofy smile plastered itself on his face.

Twilight decided that would be a good cue to leave.

"Bye Twilight!" Pinkie said as her friend left. "See ya later!"

As Twilight exited the bakery, she was fortunate enough to catch sight of Rainbow Dash in the air. "Rainbow Dash!" She called. Unfortunately, the Pegasus was either distracted, or couldn't hear her.

Twilight sighed and flapped her wings. Raising herself off the ground, Twilight made her way to the cloud her friend was sitting on.

"Rainbow Dash, I need-" She realized Rainbow Dash wasn't alone.

"Hello Princess Twilight," Falkner greeted. "It's good to see you again."

"Oh, hello Falkner, Pidgeot." Twilight said. "Haven't seen you since Pinkie's party."

Falkner smiled. "Sorry, I may have gotten carried away with, well..." Falkner spread his wings and grinned. "It's always been my dream to fly, and now..."

"These two were just asking me about weather magic." Dash explained.

Twilight nodded, then somewhat frantically said, "Dash, I just got a letter from the Princess asking for our help with a situation in Manehattan."

"What's goin' on over there that she needs us for?" Dash asked. "I mean it obviously involves Pokémon, but what specifically?"

"I'll tell you once everyone's together," Twilight said. "Right now, could you get Fluttershy and Applejack and tell them I need them at the library?" She paused, then added. "And Korrina, Misty, Lucario, May and Blaziken."

Dash nodded. "Sure thing, I finished my work for today." One thing Dash liked about working in Ponyville, the weather was almost always sunny.

"Thanks Dash, now I've just got to get Rarity and Belle." She remembered Falkner and Pidgeot were present. "You two are welcome to come too, if you want." She added.

"Thanks," Falkner said. "But no thanks." The Pidgeot's spread their wings and took to the air. "Pidgeot and I have our own things to do," He smiled at her. "We have a nest in what Miss Dash told us is Whitetail Woods if you ever need us though." And with that, they took off.

Twilight watched them leave, then turned back to Rainbow Dash. "I promise I'll explain everything at the library." She said.

"Alright," Dash said. "See ya there." She took off and headed for Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight looked down from the cloud and sighed. "Guess this is a good time to practice my landing."

* * *

Twilight winced slightly as she knocked on the door to Carousel Boutique. She still had some work to do on her landings. _At least that rose bush was there to break my fall._ She thought dryly, wincing as she pulled a thorn from her hoof, wondering which would have actually been worse.

Twilight waited a moment for someone to open the door, when no answer came she knocked again. "Rarity?" She called. Still no answer came.

Twilight paced outside the door for a moment before saying. "Ok, option one, she's too engrossed with her work to come to the door, or she's back in her design room and just can't hear me. Option two..." Twilight opened the door and trotted inside. "Rarity?" She called. "Belle?"

Twilight made her way upstairs to Rarity's design room. Sure enough, The unicorn and Gardevoir where there, along with Mage, and were sitting in a semicircle while Rarity held up different pages from her design book.

"- I'm going to make the neckline a bit lower, since we have to work around your spike." Rarity said, sketching something into her next design. "And... Oh, Twilight!" She said, noticing her friend. "What brings you here?"

Twilight looked around the room at the different fabrics, designs, and supplies scattered about. "I got a letter from the Princess," She began. "She needs our help with something in Manehattan."

"Manehattan?" Rarity asked, she tapped her chin. "Hold on a moment." She trotted over to her desk and flipped open her day planner. "Hmm, when does she want to be there?"

"The letter didn't say, but I'd assume as soon as possible." Twilight answered.

"How long would we be gone?"

"I'm not sure." Twilight admitted.

Rarity shut her day planner and sighed. "Well Twilight, I'm sorry to say this but I don't think I can make it."

"What!" Twilight exclaimed. "What's so-"

Rarity held up a hoof to cut off her friend. "Twilight, I have a business to run, and unlike most things, the fashion industry does not stop for world changing events. It adapts."

Twilight was about to interject but Rarity continued. "Furthermore, I'm currently invested in Belle's wedding dress, and a few other things involving Pokémon," She blinked. "Actually that reminds me, when you next see Gene could you send him here? I still have to get the measurements for his tuxedo."

"But I..." Twilight paused. "You make tuxedos?"

Rarity looked shocked. "Twilight, I'll have you know that mares aren't the only one's who care about fashion."

Twilight shook her head. "Fine, but I still think-"

"And one more thing," Rarity flipped open her day planner again. "I almost forgot, I have a lunch date with Keldeo on Tuesday."

That stopped Twilight cold. "Keldeo... you mean that Pokémon we met in the Hall of Legends?"

"But of course," Rarity said. "He came to visit me before Pinkie's party and we talked for quite a bit, here and at the party," Rarity smiled. "So I invited him out to lunch on Tuesday."

Twilight stared at Rarity for a second, then sighed. "Alright, I can't ask you to just drop everything and come with. And besides, there'll probably be enough of us going to figure out the problem."

"I'm glad you understand Twilight." Rarity said.

"No problem," She turned to Belle and Mage. "Could you two come to the library when you're done here? That's where I'm going to tell everyone what the Princess needs us for."

"Of course Twilight." Belle said.

Twilight smiled and trotted out of the room. "Now then," Rarity continued. "Back to your dress. How long of a train do you want? And would you prefer a veil, or not?"

* * *

About an hour later, Twilight and her assembled team where all within the confines of Golden Oaks Library. Needless to say, it was a bit cramped.

"Look, I'm sorry this place is cramped." Twilight apologized. "I'm not use to having this many people in here at once."

"I don't know what everyone's complaining about." Gene said.

Mage rolled her eyes. "That's because no one wants to risk you decapitating them by accident." she deadpanned, as even though Gene's control was getting better, he was still prone to accidentally cutting things whenever his blades accidentally extended.

Before the meeting could get derailed Twilight started talking. "Ok first off I called you all here because... Yes Pinkie?" Pinkie was waving her hoof in the air and Twilight knew she wouldn't stop until she got to talk.

"If this is an official meeting, can I make a motion?" Pinkie asked.

"I suppose... what?"

Pinkie sprung from her seat and landed next to Twilight. "Alright, item number two, I motion that we get a better clubhouse. All agreed?"

A chorus of agreements came forth. "All opposed."

"This isn't what this meeting's about!" Twilight shouted.

"Motion carried."

Twilight face hoofed and pushed Pinkie out of the way. "First off, this isn't a clubhouse, and we're not a club. Second off, I called you all here because the Princess needs our help."

"Yeah, we know Twi." Dash said. "But you've kinda been skimping on the details."

Twilight unrolled the report from the Princess, cleared her throat, and began reading. "-It has come to our attention that a large majority of the problems presented by these Pokémon, have disappeared in the last few days." She paused for a second to judge her friends' reactions. So far, they looked unimpressed. "Some of the more troublesome Pokémon, including the steel birds in the Statue of Neighberty."

"Skarmorys." Gene supplied.

"And the sea serpents which were rampaging in the bay."

"Probably Gyarados." Misty said with a nod.

"Ceased their assaults in the days following the initial event. Other, more violent Pokémon, including what was described as a living mass of tentacles in Central Park, have been calmed down or have suddenly decided to peacefully leave the city."

Everyone looked at the Pokémon expectantly. "... Probably a Tangrowth," Korrina finally said. "They like dense vegetation."

Twilight was about to resume her reading, but Applejack stopped her. "Not ta be rude Twi, but where's this goin'? It don't seem like there's a real problem."

"The problem," Twilight said. "Is that we don't know what's happening over there. And the Princess is worried that somebody's going to get hurt."

Misty and May shared a look. "That's kind of an occupational hazard for Pokémon Trainer, and Rangers." Misty said.

Twilight sighed. "I know, but Manehattan is densely populated. And Princess Celestia is worried that whoever's doing this is going to bite off more than they can chew and end up getting somepony hurt."

"Ooohh." Pinkie said. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"I just did." Twilight said under her breath.

"I'll clear everything up with the Cakes and have my Party Cannon packed in an hour."

"Wait Pinkie." Twilight said. "When I was talking to Rarity earlier, I realized that I was asking you all to drop what you were doing and come with me to Manehattan for something that, in all likelihood, won't be too much trouble. So before you all decide, I want you to know that I'll understand if you don't want to come."

Everyone thought on that for a moment and chatted amongst themselves. Rainbow Dash was the first to come forward. "We're still technically on high alert, so aside from bringing rainclouds to the farms and some gardens, the weather's going to be sunny, sunny and sunny." The Pegasus smiled. "I think I can clear my schedule."

Twilight nodded and turned to the rest of her friends. "Anyone else?"

Applejack spoke up. "Ah think ah'm gonna pass on this one. In addition to m'ah normal chores, ah've gotta make sure those bee Pokémon get settled in and make sure no Pokémon start eatin' our apples."

"Have you tried Repel?" Belle asked.

"What? Like insect repellents? That ain't really safe ta spray on food."

"No," Juniper interjected. "There's a special type of repellent meant to keep low level Pokémon away, especially Bug-types. It's all natural, so it doesn't harm crops."

Applejack's eyes widened. "How do you make that stuff?"

Juniper shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know the ingredients."

_Shoot!_ Applejack said inwardly, though she quickly made a mental note to ask any other humans they meet in the future if they knew how to make it.

"Um, I think I should stay too. If that's ok." Fluttershy said. "I just think someone should stay behind to look after the Pokémon."

"Good thinking Fluttershy." Twilight said. "And all those little ones at your cottage need someone to look after them."

At this point, Misty got up on all fours and stretched. "I think I'm gonna take a pass too, I'm not sure how much help I'd be, and I'm still figuring out how to control this body."

"And I'm not going into another city until I'm sure I won't burn any buildings down." May added.

Twilight was beginning to worry she wouldn't have anyone besides Rainbow Dash with her on this one. "Pinkie Pie?" She asked.

Pinkie smiled. "Of course I'm coming silly," She noogied her friend. "If it's to help someone, I'm there."

"I'm coming too." Korrina said. "It's not like I have anything better planned."

"Then I shall come as well." Lucario added. Korrina turned to her partner, but whatever she was going to say, she apparently decided not to.

Gene, Belle, and Mage had been discussing their plan. "We'll come," Gene said. "We'll meet you at the train station, Rarity has to get the measurements for my tux."

Twilight froze for a second. "I was suppose to tell you that." She said.

"I think I'll stay too," Spike chimed in. "You've been closing the library a lot lately Twilight."

"You sure Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Spike said with a shrug. "Turns out Manehattan isn't as exciting as the comics made it out to be."

Twilight deadpanned as she realized why Spike had been so excited to go to Manehattan the first time.

"I'll come." Juniper said. "I read a bit about Manehattan in one of your books, it sounds like an interesting place to visit." The Beheeyem smiled. "Besides, maybe I'll run into some more of my friends there."

Twilight smiled. That meant she had a team of nine counting herself. "Perfect, I'll check the schedule and get the tickets, everyone else just... do whatever you need to do."

* * *

The next train to Ponyville was scheduled to leave at seven, this gave everyone enough time to get whatever they needed finished, and for a few last minute stragglers to volunteer for the trip.

Belle clung protectively to Gene in the seat across from Solana and Lunick. Gene had told her what had happened between them earlier but Belle was still unsure about the Rangers.

Twilight had honestly been surprised that the pair had volunteered to come along, as she had expected them to keep to themselves for the next few days. When she asked, they told her that they became Rangers because they wanted to help people and Pokémon in need, and now, as far as they were concerned, that applied to ponies too.

The train ride would take almost four hours, which meant it would be almost midnight by the time they arrived.

Originally, Twilight had been worried that they wouldn't be able to find anywhere to sleep. Then, once again, the problem solved itself.

Princess Celestia had sent a message ahead and rented four rooms at the same hotel they had stayed at last time.

They had worked out sleeping arrangements rather easily, though Twilight was surprised when Lunick and Solana offered to share a room.

"Soo," Twilight began. "Anyone have anything they want to share?"

"Do we have any idea what we're looking for?" Solana asked.

"Uhh, not really. The authorities don't know who or what's been stopping the Pokémon," Twilight answered.

"That probably rules out Rangers," Lunick said. "We try to work with local authorities whenever possible."

"Good," Belle mumbled under her breath.

Gene sighed. "Belle," He said softly. "Everything's fine now. They apologized, and I forgave them." He put his arms around her. "I'd prefer we not live in the past now."

"I know," Belle said, pouting slightly. "But it's hard for me, they treated you like a criminal and, if they had their way." She hugged him tighter. "I never would've seen you again." Belle didn't know what Rangers did with the Pokémon they 'rescued', but she had heard rumors ranging from (sometimes forced) rehabilitation, to euthanization. Though she chose not to believe the last one, since frankly, it kind of went against what they were supposed to be.

Since no one seemed to be in the mood to talk, Twilight went and sat next to Juniper, and once again the two began exchanging notes.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flopped down in her seat and moaned. "Are we there yet?"

* * *

"Yes!" Twilight shouted as they got off the train after what felt like the hundredth time Rainbow asked the question. "We're here, now let's get to the hotel. We'll start investigating in the morning, I'm exhausted."

As the group made their way to the hotel, they noticed that the night life of Manehattan had changed a bit since their last visit.

Twilight saw crows with witches hats in the trees, saw abnormally large purple rats and a very abnormally large tan rat in the alleys, and heard something that was definitely not water in the sewer. Unless water had started saying "Grimer."

"Why do some of these Pokémon look like they're adapted to city life?" Twilight asked as she watched a pair of spinning gears float by.

"Steel-types tend to be like that sometimes," Korrina supplied. "As do Poison, Electric, and even some Normal-types."

Twilight nodded and decided to think more about that in the morning. For now, she needed sleep.

As the group continued through the city, Korrina noticed that Gene seemed a bit preoccupied. "You alright?" She asked.

He sighed. "Yeah, just... this place reminds me of Mauville, back in Hoenn."

Korrina was silent for a second, then turned to Belle. "Is that place especially significant to him... or you?"

Belle nodded. "More to Fang than either of us, it's where we first met him."

Korrina had been wondering why they hadn't brought the Houndoom along. His nose might have come in handy.

"He was a stray little Houndour when we first met him." Gene said suddenly. "He had the cutest puppy dog eyes." He shivered when he recalled when he had first seen the puppy. "Dark-type's in Hoenn... they get bad reception."

"Mightyena's are stereotyped as violent, Sharpedo are even worse, Cacturne don't help break the stigma, and I don't think I need to explain about Absol." Belle added.

Korrina nodded. She worked with Fighting-types, so she didn't have to deal with that kind of thing, but every Gym Leader worth their Badge knew how some people could get about some types.

"I don't know how Fang got there," Gene continued. "But he was all alone, and I could see his rib cage." Korrina winced. "I gave him some food and took him to the Pokémon Center after I found him. After that," Gene's frown turned to a smile. "Even after going through that, he was such a sweet little pup."

"You adopted him." Korrina deduced. The term was used to refer to the times when a trainer captured a Pokémon without a battle, when the Pokémon wanted to go with them.

"He wouldn't stop following me," Gene said with laughed. "And he kept licking my pant leg."

Korrina smiled. She was sure every Trainer had fond memories of their early days. She knew she did.

Gene sighed. "I try to keep him out of big cities, since it brings back bad memories and he gets nightmares."

After a good half hour, the group finally reached their hotel. Ignoring the startled looks they got when they entered they collected their room keys and went to bed. Not sure what to expect the next day.

* * *

Luna watched as Darkrai worked to contain his magic once again. She had moved the nights practice to a field on the outskirts of Canterlot so they wouldn't have to use the training room.

Luna was glad that Darkrai was making progress, but he seemed to be at a roadblock in his training. He had thus far been unable to stop his nightmares from overtaking the dreams for any longer than his first attempt the night before. In fact often times he held it for less. That was what Luna was hoping to change.

"Alright Darkrai," Luna said. "I think you need little incentive so here's my offer. If you can keep your powers from destroying this dream," She created another Dream Sphere. "For two minutes, then we'll move on to the next step in your training."

"_But I've only managed thirty seconds so far!"_ Darkrai shouted.

Luna raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Then I guess we will continue at this until I say you are ready."

Luna walked away and left Darkrai with the sphere. It was then that he felt something he had rarely felt before, regret. He realized that he didn't want to let down his teacher. _"It's only one."_ He told himself, hoping he wouldn't psych himself out.

As Darkrai rose to the Dreamscape, he examined the dream as he always did. It was then he noticed something peculiar. Whereas most of the dreams he'd dealt with thus far had been viewed from the position of an observer. This one was viewed from the position of the dreamer.

Darkrai noted the scenery 'he' was in. It appeared to be a city similar to Lumiose, in that it 'he' was standing under a structure similar to the tower there.

Darkrai was very engrossed in this dream, wondering what Luna was planning. Then he saw her. A pale blue Pegasus mare with a yellow mane, a single pink stripe running its length. Her feathers, unlike the other Pegasi he had seen were a different color from her coat, a light shade of pink.

"_Cresselia."_ He whispered. He shook his head. It was just a tactic from Luna to shake him up. Then he saw her smile, and a black hoof took hers.

Darkrai watched as the dream continued to play out, until his powers started reaching for it. _"No!"_ He said sternly. To his surprise the dark tendrils pulled back, before slowly inching forward.

Darkrai grit his teeth, he wouldn't let his nightmaric powers best him this time. He concentrated on his most positive memories, many of which involved Cresselia and focused on holding back the his powers while the dream played out before him.

As he watched, the stallion he was viewing from lowered himself, and held out a small box. The mare gasped and covered her mouth.

Darkrai heard the stallion say something he couldn't make out through the dream barrier, and he felt his hold on his power beginning to slip. _"NO!"_ He said again, more forcefully this time. _"I control you! Not the other way around!"_

As he said this he recalled his earlier years, when he and Cresselia had been young, before he knew what his powers could do, and when they used to dance together in the moonlight. _"Cresselia."_ He said softly.

At that point, the dream came to a close as the mare said what Darkrai lip read to be "Yes." And kissed the stallion. What happened next Darkrai was never able to explain.

The nightmaric tendrils, swarming around the dream like flies around honey, snapped rigged before retreating back into Darkrai's own shadow.

The Pitch-Black Pokémon fell, rather violently, from the Dreamscape. "Darkrai!" Luna rushed to her students side. "I saw, you did it!"

"_I... what?"_ He asked in shock.

Luna laughed. "Soon my student, you will have full control over the darkness that plagues you." Luna couldn't help but be pleased with herself, she had progressed Darkrai farther in a week than her sister had with Twilight in over a decade. Granted, what Darkrai needed was more encouragement and a magic control base than actual training, but still.

"_What was that dream?"_ Darkrai asked. _"That mare looked just like Cresselia."_

Luna raised an eyebrow in mock confusion. "Did she? What a coincidence. That style of feather dying is just popular in Prance." Luna didn't think that was true, but she wasn't sure.

Darkrai glared at his teacher for a moment, then shook his head. _"Fine, now what's the next step?"_

Luna grinned and said. "Meet me here tomorrow and we'll continue, for now." Luna spread her wings. "I suggest you return home, perhaps speak with a friend or two."

As Luna flew off, Darkrai looked down at his shadow. His mouth curled upward slightly in a smile._"Cresselia,"_ He said again. _"My dream come true."_


	32. Chapter 29

Twilight groaned as the sun peeked through the window of her hotel room. "Princess," She moaned into her pillow. "It's too early, turn off the sun."

Fortunately for Twilight, the only other occupant of the room, Juniper, was still asleep...and floating several feet above her bed with the sheets wrapped around her. Unfortunately for both of them, the occupants of the room adjoining theirs weren't the kind of people who slept in.

"Princess? Professor?" Solana called through the door.

"Hmm…" Juniper slowly opened her eyes, then realized she wasn't lying on the hotel bed anymore. "Why?" She asked as she tried to untangle herself, which wasn't that easy in midair.

Meanwhile, Twilight had dragged herself out of bed and opened the door to Solana and Lunick's room. "What time is it?" She asked through a yawn.

"Almost six," Solana answered. "You said you wanted to get an early start."

_She's right, I did say that._ "Why do you seem so awake?" Twilight asked.

Solana put her hands on her hips and smiled proudly. "Pokémon Rangers rise with the sun every morning."

"Plus Gene and Pinkie made coffee." Twilight and Solana turned to see Mage poking her head through the room's door. "You want some?"

Twilight smiled. "That'd be great… but first..." Twilight turned to Juniper, who had somehow managed to roll the blanket into a ball around herself, and yanked a corner of it with her magic. The wad came undone and Juniper was left spinning in the air for a few seconds.

Once she finally stopped herself, she turned to Mage. "Did someone say coffee?"

About fifteen minutes, a few cups of coffee, and one futile attempt by a Pegasus to buck a Ghost out of her room later, everyone was mostly awake and gathered in Twilight and Juniper's hotel room.

"Alright," Rainbow said with a yawn. "What's the plan here Twi? Split up and comb the city, hoping we run into who or whatever's been doing this vigilante thing?"

"Well," Twilight began, taking a sip from her mug. "I figured we should check out a few of the places where the Pokémon calmed down and peacefully left the city first."

"Hoping to find some evidence?" Korrina asked.

"Pretty much," Twilight said. "We'll split into three teams, one Pony on each team to dispel suspicion. Gene, Belle, Mage, and Rainbow, you guys go check out Central Park. Pinkie, go with Solana, Lunick, Plusle and Minun and head downtown. Korrina, Lucario, Juniper, you're with me, we'll check out around town hall. There were reports of some disturbances there during the first night the Pokémon arrived."

Twilight floated three maps off her night stand. "I marked the areas the report said the disturbances were in."

Once everyone had their map, Twilight gave each group a small bag of bits. "The Princess had these waiting at the front desk last night, just in case."

A few questions later and everyone was on their way out the door. "Meet back here around noon for lunch and debriefing," Twilight finished. "Now let's move."

* * *

"You know, this place vaguely reminds me of Castelia City," Gene commented as they made their way to Central Park. "Granted, a lot of these big cities look the same to me."

"I've only been here once before," Rainbow said. "I just wish I could see over these buildings. It'd help me get my bearings."

Gene turned to Mage, who was holding the map in front of here. "How much further to this park anyway?"

Mage looked up from the map and did a quick look around. "It should be around here somewhere."

Mage floated ahead of the group and, around a corner. "Mage!" Gene called. "Get back here!"

"Found it!" She called.

Gene sighed. "What are you so worried about?" Rainbow asked. "She's fine."

"I just don't like letting Mage go off on her own," He said. "Especially in big cities."

"Why's that?"

Before Gene could answer an high pitched scream came from around the corner. "That's why..." He sighed, before rushing forward.

As Gene rounded the corner he saw exactly what he was hoping not to. Mage was floating just in front of a cream coated Earth Pony filly with a bright yellow mane, what worried Gene was the Unicorn standing over her. They definitely looked related, they had the same coat color, although his mane was orange.

Mage, for the most part, was looking confused. "What's going on here?" Gene asked, stepping in front of Mage. The stallion gaped at Gene. "What's with the screaming?"

The stallion blinked and shook his head, developing a much angrier look. "That thing scared my daughter!" He yelled.

Gene turned to Mage, she shook her head. "I don't know, I heard her scream, then he showed up."

Gene sighed, this happened far too often. The Gallade kneeled down and looked the little filly in the eyes. "Are you alright?"

The filly opened her eyes and gaped at the Pokémon before her. Gene smiled. "Did that little ol' Ghost scare you?"

"Uh huh." She said.

"Well, Mage isn't all that scary. She's just a prankster." Gene turned to Mage, who stuck her tongue out him. The filly laughed. "See?"

Gene stood back up and turned to her father. "Sorry about that. Mage's appearance can be offputting, but she's actually really nice... Once you get to know her."

The stallion sighed. "It's alright, she's been jumpy around Pokémon ever since some kind of wolf scared her and her friends when you all first showed up."

Gene nodded. "Don't worry, we're here to help... by the way, did she happen to say what the wolf thing looked like?"

"Just something about black fur..." He said.

Gene nodded and said goodbye to the filly and her father before continuing towards the park, which was now in sight, and was a lot bigger than he had expected. "So... where should we start?" Dash asked.

"We should try to find where that Tangrowth was at," Belle said.

"And how do we do that?"

Gene looked around and spotted a pond nearby. "One moment." He walked over to the pond and poked the surface, rippled spreading out from the point of contact. A few seconds later, a small blue head poked through the surface.

"Hello?" The Poliwag greeted nervously.

"Hi," Gene said with a friendly smile, calming down the Poliwag. "We're looking for the place where a Tangrowth was causing trouble a few days ago."

The Poliwag perked up at the question. "Oh! That was just over there," She gestured to a small grouping of trees. "There was a big commotion over there a few days ago, but I don't know what happened since I was hiding in here at the time."

"Thanks," Gene nodded as the Poliwag went back under the water. He then walked back over to the group. "This way."

The little alcove of trees was badly twisted with thorn bushes and vines. "This definitely looks like a Tangrowth was setting up a nest," Gene said. "Usually they don't leave once they set up though."

"Alright everybody," Dash said. "Spread out and search for clues."

As the group spread out looked around, Gene walked up to the mess of vines. "I wonder..." Raising his arm blades Gene sliced through the vines. "Cool, I'm a walking machete."

Halfway into the thicket, Gene found a small clearing. "Hey guys! I think I found where the Tangrowth was."

"You think this is where whatever happened went down?" Dash asked.

"Yeah, the center of the thicket is usually where Tangrowth nest, so if someone was going to confront this thing, they'd have to get here."

"I don't see anything," Belle said. "You'd think there would be some sign of a fight."

"Maybe it wasn't a fight," Mage suggested.

"Then what do you think happened?" Dash asked.

Mage grinned and glanced at Belle. "Some Psychic-types can be quite persuasive."

"Oh hah, hah," Belle snarked. "Blame the Psychic-types. Typical."

Mage snickered. "Seriously though, there's literally no evidence here, it's gotta be a Psychic."

"Or whoever did this actually talked to the Tangrowth," Gene said. "Maybe they convinced it to leave."

Rainbow sighed. "Let's keep looking, there's got to be something around here that'll tell us what happened."

* * *

"Twilight, this is getting us nowhere," Korrina said. "We've been asking random ponies what they saw all day, and all we're getting are reports of a few odder Pokémon around the city."

"And just so you know," Lucario added. "You should probably tell someone about the Muk near the water treatment plant." That had been one of the more distressing reports, although most were rather harmless.

"Well there's no evidence," Twilight said. "Other than the craters, what Pokémon could leave craters?"

"Most Fighting-types, current company included."

"Anything with the ability to use Attacks such as Rock Smash or Earthquake."

"There are a lot of them," Juniper finished. "It'd be easier to tell you which ones couldn't."

"And even those might be able to if they're in the heat of battle," Korrina added.

Twilight sighed. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. What Pokémon could go around, do these things, and not be seen?"

"Anything that can turn invisible," Juniper said. "So more than a few Ghost-types."

"It's possible whatever it is is just super sneaky," Korrina suggested. "So Shiftry, Greninja, Accelgor, Zoroark."

"I suppose there's a possibility it's a shape-shifter, but that only really leaves Ditto," Lucario supplied. "And while they're able to transform into anything-"

"Wait, what do you mean it can become anything?" Twilight asked.

"It can reconstruct its cellular structure," Juniper explained. "Meaning it can change itself to look like anything, rocks, books, people, other Pokémon."

"That seems like a pretty good suspect," Twilight said.

"You'd think so," Korrina said. "But most Ditto's, or at least untrained ones, can't change their face. No matter what they have the same mouth and eyes."

"Even as inanimate objects?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, it looks kinda weird actually."

Twilight sighed again. "Alright so we're looking for a phantom then."

"Or a ninja," Korrina added.

"You know, if somepony came up to me and said any of this, I'd think they were insane," Twilight said.

"Then maybe we should stop asking ponies," Korrina said. "They've been giving us some weird looks."

"Well what do you think we should do?" Twilight asked. "We have no leads, and only a vague idea of what we're even looking for."

"Don't forget that whoever this is, they seem to be actively avoiding being found," Juniper added.

"Alright, out of the ones you mentioned, which Pokémon would have the easiest time hiding itself?" Twilight asked. At this, the three of them began to think, before their eyes widened in realization.

"Zoroark!" All three Pokémon said at once.

"Whoa, why the simultaneous answer?"

"Zoroark have the ability to create and control illusions," Juniper explained. "In fact, they're actually classified as the Illusion Fox Pokémon to emphasize the point."

"And they're really rare," Korrina said, before she thought about it for a second. "Well...reclusive might be the better way to say it."

"They're Dark-types," Lucario added. "And because of their abilities, a lot of people are afraid of them."

"It's gotten better in recent years." Juniper said. "But some people still refer to them as the Evil Fox Pokémon."

"Yikes," Twilight winced. She didn't understand why people would treat some Pokémon this way, though she really didn't understand half of what happened on Earth. "Is there any reason that they're treated like that?"

"Besides the normal stigma toward Dark-types? It's the powers their species possess that freak people out," Juniper answered. "But I've met a few Zoroark's in my research. They're really quite intelligent and quite friendly once you earn their trust. If anything, its their pre-evolution, Zorua, that are more...mischievous."

Korrina smiled. "Yeah, legend has it that deep in Lostlorn Forest, there's a secret area where Unova's Zoroark and Zorua live, away from humans and other Pokémon."

Juniper rolled her eyes. "That's even more ridiculous than that myth about a Pokémon Village beyond the Winding Wood in Kalos."

"Ok," Twilight began. "How do you find a Zoroark?"

"Yeah...that's the thing…" Korrina chuckled nervously. "Zoroark are so good at hiding, half the time the only way to find them is if THEY let you find them."

Twilight groaned. "This is getting us nowhere. We should head back, maybe one of the others will have an idea."

"Sounds like a plan," Korrina said.

The group started back towards the hotel, Twilight leading the way. "So Juniper, in your purely professional opinion. What do you think our chances are of of finding this Zoroark?"

Juniper sighed. "Not to good, almost all the trainers that I've met who had a Zoroark said they met them while they were a Zorua."

"Well-" Before Twilight could continue, they heard a rustling from a nearby trashcan.

"What do you suppose that is?" Korrina asked.

Twilight walked over to it. "Only one way to find out." She lifted the lid off the can and... nothing. "Well, that was anti-"

"Boo!" came a voice from the trash can, before a tongue came out of it.

"AHHH!" Twilight jumped as the trashcan dissolved into shadows, revealing the red and black lupine form of a Pokémon. A Zoroark. "Why does everything keep scaring me?!"

The Zoroark, meanwhile, was too busy laughing on the ground. "Oh man, that was priceless."

Twilight walked up to the fox and glared at him. "So, are you the one who's been keeping the Pokémon in check? Or just causing trouble?"

The Zoroark continued to laugh for a bit longer, before getting back on his feet. Smiling, the Zoroark said. "That's me, your friendly neighborhood Zoroark." And just as suddenly as he had appeared, he dissolved into the shadows.

"Someone stop him!" Twilight shouted.

"How?" Juniper asked. "Psychic Attacks don't have any effect on Dark-types, and by now he's probably already escaped."

As if to confirm, Lucario nodded. "I can't sense his aura anymore. He's certainly fast, and the surrounding buildings only give him more mobility."

Twilight groaned again. "Ok, new plan. We head back and hope the others have an idea."

"Isn't that-"

"I said new plan!" Twilight said. "Now come on, the hotels this way."

* * *

Arceus stood in the Hall of Legends, thinking over what Celestia had told him yesterday. _"A Cofagrigus. A violent one at that… how did that get through?"_ He sighed. _"No matter, for now I must focus on fixing the problem."_

The Alpha Pokémon thought for a moment, then smiled as a plan came to him. _"Giratina, my son. Come to me now,"_ His voice echoed through the temple, and a few moments later, a portal opened in front of him.

"_Greetings father,"_ Giratina said through the Portal to the Distortion World. _"What is it that you need of me?"_

"_A rather violent Cofagrigus has made its home in a castle near here."_ Arceus told him. _"Since you are the Patron of Ghost-types, I was hoping you could… relocate it."_

Behind his golden mask, Giratina smiled. The Ghost-type legendary hated the myths that circulated around himself and the world he upheld. How he was supposedly trapped there by his father for evil deeds, so he always looked forward to helping his father wherever he was able.

"_Of course father, but if I may ask, how could creature such as this make it to Equus? Wasn't leaving such creatures behind the point of the transfer."_

Arceus sighed, causing Giratina to flinch. _"My apologies father, I didn't mean to sound rude."_

Arceus chuckled. _"No Giratina, it's just… I'm not sure. I suppose it could have been hibernating, so if I couldn't sense its mind I may have assumed it was an artifact of some kind, maybe a Dusk Stone for the Pokémon who require them..."_ he sighed. That was one reason why Arceus didn't go full God very often. It left him with shoddy, fragmented memories of what he had done.

"_Very well father,"_ Giratina said as the portal began to close. _"I will have it done in no time."_

When the portal closed behind him, Giratina flew through the maze of floating land and mirror like viewing pools that made up the Distortion World. As he flew, he examined the mirrors along the way. To him, they revealed what no other Legendary, save perhaps his father and Palkia, could see.

They showed images of Earth.

As he was born to oversee this world, Giratina knew the Distortion World better than even his father, and thus, he knew that it, much like his father's own pocket dimension, was separate from the material world. However, unlike his father's, his was still tied to it as well. This meant that he could still view images from Earth...although those were quickly fading and being replaced by images from around Equus, likely due to the connection with Earth slowly fading.

Giratina paused in front of one of the larger pools, looking out from what appeared to be the side of a building. The street below was desolate; a car lay on its side, a fire burned in a trashcan. The Legendary Dragon quickly decided to keep moving. They had already made their decision to abandon Earth, so it was pointless to check on it again.

Giratina stopped as he felt himself come to where the castle was in the material plane. Strange as it may sound, even after all these millennia alone in this place, he had no idea how he was able to sense that. And yet, it was clear from the scattered landscape, a crumbled wall slowly rose the ground on one land lump, a pedestal of some sorts, perfectly round and surrounded by five stones slowly formed on another.

Ignoring the changing landscape, Giratina extended his tendrils, finding where the castle was anchored in the material plane. While it was easier to open a portal through a mirror or pond, he was more than capable of tearing one open wherever he wished.

Finding a good anchor, Giratina opened his clamp like jaws and fired a glowing purple orb. It floated outward until it reached the desired point and exploded, tearing a hole in the fabric of space as it did. A hole which led straight to the corridors below the ancient castle.

"_Perfect,"_ Giratina hissed. Soon the Cofagrigus would be drawn to his power, then he would deal with it.

"L-l-Lord Giratina!" Giratina turned to see a young Dusclops kneeling just off to the side. "It is truly an honor sir."

Giratina smiled. _"Greetings young one, please rise."_

Dusclops did as she was asked. "To what do we owe this visit, my Lord?"

"_I'm on a task from my father. He sent me to rid this castle of the Cofagrigus who attacked Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends."_

Dusclops' eye narrowed. "That creature has ignored all attempts my compatriots and I have made to reason with it. The recent attack was the last straw."

Giratina shook his head. _"My father was not aware such a darkness had been brought to this world,"_He explained. _"And I plan to right that wrong."_ He eyed the young Ghost-type for a moment, expecting her to say something. When she didn't, Giratina spoke up. _"I suggest you clear out of here, little one. And tell your friends to stay away,"_ His tone became much more serious. _"You will not want to witness what comes next."_

The Dusclops seemed to blush for a moment before turning away. "Of course, my Lord…" She began walking away, but stopped. "My Lord… it is not my place to say but… be careful. I do not think this is an ordinary Cofagrigus." With that, she disappeared into the shadows of the hallway.

Giratina sat in silence and thought on what he had just been told. _I wonder how long this spirit has been sleeping._

After a minute, a dragging sound was heard from the hall in front of the portal. Giratina watched as a shadow hand shot from the darkness and clamped onto the side of the hallway. "Lord Giratina," The Cofagrigus hissed as it pulled itself into view. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"_Are you the one who attacked the Pokémon and Ponies who came here yesterday?"_ Giratina asked. He already knew the answer, what he wanted was an explanation.

The Coffin Pokémon smiled sinisterly. "Do you mean the Gardevoir, Gallade and the annoyingly loud pink creature?"

Giratina already didn't like where this was going. _"Yes."_

"Then yes, I did attack them." Giratina was almost surprised that the Cofagrigus had admitted that so quickly, almost.

"_Why did you attack them? Did you not hear Lord Arceus' message?"_

The Ghost-type hissed with laughter, Giratina growled. "I heard Lord Arceus, but I've been asleep for so long, and I was so hungry," It laughed again. "And I needed my strength back."

Giratina didn't even want to ask what for, but he did. The answer that came was accompanied by yet another sinister laugh. "Long have I slept Lord Giratina," Cofagrigus explained. "Hundreds of years, since the wars of Unova."

Giratina's eyes widened. The wars that had pitted humans against humans with Pokémon caught in between, the war that had brought about the need for the Swords of Justice, the war that killed Keldeo's entire species at the Moor of Icirrus. The war that had ended more than seven hundred years ago. This creature was indeed old.

"I still remember some of my life," Cofagrigus explained. "I was a Lord of the castle that stood where the ruins of the Unovan Desert now stand. I was cut down in my sleep by an assassin... I'm sorry, that's all I recall. My memories come and go."

Giratina was beginning to wonder if this Pokémon was insane. He was fairly certain a formerly human mind wasn't made to withstand death, plus seven hundred years isolation.

"_What is it that you want?"_ Giratina asked.

The Cofagrigus smiled. "I seek revenge on the mortals who wronged me, who sealed me in the dark for all the years."

Giratina watched as the Cofagrigus once again broke out in laughter. Hideous, hissing, insane laughter. Giratina shook his head. _"You cannot be allowed to roam this world."_ He said.

The insane Ghost stopped laughing and gaped at the Legendary. "But you are the patron of all Ghost's, you were sealed away for your crimes by your fath-"

"_NO!"_ Giratina's voice shook the castle, chunks of the ceiling fell to the floor. _"My father, my brothers, and I, were all sealed away by the same group of humans who once worshipped us."_ The Legendary Ghost-type stared down the Cofagrigus. _"And I do not take kindly to those who imply my father locked me away."_

Unnoticed by Cofagrigus, Giratina's tendrils had snaked out of the Distortion World and were beginning to ensnare the Ghost-type. "Wh-what?" He said as they tightened around his body.

"_You do not belong in this world!"_ Giratina snarled as he dragged the Ghost-type into the portal. _"You never should have been brought here in the first place!"_

The portal sealed, cutting off the horrible sound of a hissing scream.

* * *

"A Zoroark huh?" Solana asked. "I've never actually met one of those. Fiore doesn't have any, as far as I know."

"I met one once," Belle said. "It wasn't a very long battle."

"That's cause you're a Fairy-type," Korrina deadpanned.

Belle just smiled and took another bite of her salad.

"Anyway," Twilight said. "We need to find this guy, I'm pretty sure he's the one who's been helping around the city, but I'd still like to ask him a few questions."

"Ohhh, a Zoroark hunt." Juniper smiled. "Sounds like fun."

"Sounds impossible," Mage snorted, causing everyone glared at her. "What? Dark-types don't like to be found, especially Zoroarks."

"They are pretty reclusive," Gene agreed. "The trainer who had one was in Unova, and she said it was the daughter of her mother's Zoroark."

"Well how do you suggest we find this guy?" Rainbow asked.

Gene just shrugged. "This is going to be a lot like finding a needle in a haystack... if that needle could turn invisible and move around in the stack. Not to mention we don't know if this guy is a wild Pokémon, or a former human... not that it really matters since Zoroark are one of the more intelligent Dark-types out there."

Twilight groaned. "Don't worry Twilight," Juniper said. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Twilight smiled. "Thanks Juniper." Twilight was still a bit unsure about the entire situation, but she was glad she had friends to help her through it. "Alright," She said with renewed vigor. "I get most of you have no experience dealing with Zoroarks."

The Pokémon all nodded in agreement. "But is anything you know about Dark-types applicable here, and not just that their reclusive."

"Nothing that Fang's ever done is going to be any help," Gene said. "Like I said, he might look scary, but he's really just a big puppy dog."

"I know a little about how Dark-types usually fight," Korrina added. "Their attacks are usually either long range attacks, or they fight by being sneaky, striking from behind, tricking their opponent, that kind of thing. Basically they're more...indirect than other types, especially if they're purely Dark-types like Zoroark. Pokémon like Fang are dual types, so they usually have more...variety so they can also go for direct attacks."

"I specialized in the origins of Pokémon back in Unova," Juniper added. "Recently I've been focusing more on Pokémon that appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the past hundred years or so. Klink, Clefairy... Beheeyem..."

Mage snickered as Juniper examined her hand. The irony of the situation was pretty clear.

Solana leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment. "There aren't that many Dark-types in Fiore, and a fair majority are dual types."

"And we're stationed there the majority of the time." Lunick added.

"But the ones we have encountered tend to set up a territory and stay there," Solana said. "There's an entire group of Shiftry that set up a territory in the Sekra Mountain Range."

"But," Lunick continued. "If this guy's a former human, he wouldn't stick to any one place. And, even if Zoroarks set up a territory, and I'm not sure they do, we don't know how big it would be. For all we know, it might span the entire city."

"And it's odd that they would set up a territory this close to a city," Plusle added. When everyone stared at her in surprise, Minun chimed in.

"Most Dark-types prefer solitude, especially ones like Zoroark."

"How do you two know that?" Solana asked.

They smiled. "While you guys are on missions, talking to tourists or citizens or whoever," Minun said.

"We talk with the Pokémon in the area." Plusle finished.

Twilight thought on this for a moment. "Ok, so if I remember what Juniper told me correctly, then Zoroark is weak to Fairy, Bug and Fighting-types, right?"

"That's right," Juniper said with a smile. "And they're immune to Psychic-type attacks."

"And Ghost and Dark-types aren't very effective," Mage finished.

"Ok," Twilight said. "That means Lucario and Belle, you guys are our best bets."

"One more thing," Belle said. "Because Zoroarks are Dark-types, my own psychic powers are unable to pierce their illusions."

"What does that mean?" Rainbow asked.

"It leaves a big blank space in the air where the illusion is," Belle answered. "It's easy to at least get a general idea of where the Zoroark is from there."

"That sounds like it could be helpful," Twilight replied. "Alright here's the new plan. Belle, we're going to city hall after this, maybe the Zoroark is still around there."

"Seems like as good a place as any to start," Belle agreed.

"Pinkie, is your Pinkie sense telling you anything?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie shook her head. "Sorry Twilight, but you know my Pinkie sense only works for random and spontaneous events."

Twilight nodded. "That's what I thought." She smiled as an idea popped into her head. "I was just hoping we could find this guy and thank him for everything he's done." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe with a thank you note, or..."

Pinkie's eyes widened and she gasped. "A thank you party!"

Twilight smiled. "That sounds perfect." She frowned. "Too bad we don't know where he is..."

Pinkie leapt from her seat and landed near the door. "Then what are we waiting for?" Pinkie rushed out the door and Twilight smiled.

"Solana, Lunick, make sure she doesn't do anything too crazy, but don't inhibit her too much, she might actually have a chance of finding this guy."

"Sure thing Twilight," Lunick said with a nod. "See you guys later."

Juniper looked at Twilight quizzically. "You really think that's going to work?"

Twilight shrugged. "I'd say it's fifty/fifty of her finding something." She thought for a moment, then added. "Of course, Manehattan isn't really used to her... maybe I could've thought that out better."

Rainbow Dash chuckled and put a hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "Don't worry Twilight, Pinkie won't... I mean she..." Rainbow sighed. "Actually you might want to start worrying…."

"...okay... we'd better follow her," Twilight gulped, and they were out the door so fast it looked like they teleported.

As the group rushed after their over excited friend, they passed a red and black stallion who was walking by the hotel. "Sorry!" Korrina called as they all rushed passed the startled pony.

"Well, there's something you don't see everyday," the stallion blinked, before walking past the hotel. What they didn't notice was the shadow stemming from the pony. It wasn't equine in shape, rather it was shaped like a fox.


	33. Chapter 30

"Pinkie!" Twilight called frantically. "Where did she go?"

"I don't see her Twi!" Dash said as she flew overhead. "I know she can be really fast when she wants to and all, but she just disappeared this time."

"You sure she went this way?" Belle asked.

"I think so... there's got to be an easier way to find her," Twilight groaned. "Great, we started off looking for a Pokémon, and we end up losing Pinkie!"

Juniper floated over to Twilight. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll turn up sooner or later."

"Yeah," Mage agreed. "And maybe she'll actually find the Zoroark."

Twilight smiled. "You're probably right," She laughed softly. "It's not like Pinkie's going to-"

"AAAAHHHH!"

Twilight was interrupted as some ponies ran screaming past them. "Whoa," Rainbow jumped out of their way as they ran past. "What's their problem?"

"Now you listen here, you little brat!"

The voice that boomed from around the corner gave the group a pretty good idea. "I was beginning to wonder why nopony was on this street," Gene said.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "I'll fly ahead and see what's going on."

"Careful Rainbow," Korrina called. "Whatever that was, it sounded big."

"And familiar," Lunick commented.

Following after Rainbow Dash, the rest of the group made their way to the corner. The sounds of some kind of confrontation could be heard as they drew closer. Just before they made the turn, Rainbow returned, looking slightly pale and very shocked. "There are... I don't..."

The Pokémon all looked at each other before continuing around the corner. Once they saw what was causing the ruckus, they froze.

"That's... mildly terrifying, actually," Mage commented as she processed the sight before her.

Two Pokémon stood in the center of the road, two very large Pokémon, two very large Pokémon who were both glaring at each other hatefully.

The larger, and more intimidating of the two, was a black and red creature with an ax blade on either side of its head. The second Pokémon was a tan and pink giant, using a concrete column as a walking cane.

"That's a Haxorus," Korrina deadpanned. "A _shiny_ Haxorus."

"And a Conkeldurr," Juniper added. "And they look very upset with each other."

"As if I'm going to listen to anything you have to say," The Haxorus said in a surprisingly feminine voice as she jabbed the Conkeldurr. "You're just stuck in your ways and refuse to see any other side to the argument."

"And _you_," The Conkeldurr spat. "Lack any _real_ experience in the matter at hand."

"That Haxorus seems familiar." Juniper rubbed her chin. "But I can't place my finger on it."

Gene nodded. "Yeah... she sounds familiar."

"Ditto on the Conkeldurr," Lunick added.

"Umm... excuse me?" Twilight said. "But shouldn't you be, I don't know, stopping them?"

"If they actually start fighting," Belle said. "I have the advantage on both of them, but I still don't want to throw myself in between them."

"I lack experience?" The Haxorus sounded shocked. "Unlike you, I spend my time actually _talking_ to trainers. You just stay cooped up in your lab, reading over field reports."

The Conkeldurr huffed and struck the ground with his cane, shaking the ground. "I'm not going to stand here and be judged by a little girl who plays at being champion!"

"Wait... champion?!" Juniper suddenly shouted.

"Why you... insufferable old coot! You and your stupid Rangers ruined my friends' wedding!"

"Rangers?" Lunick asked in surprised.

"Iris?!" Juniper, Belle and Gene shouted.

"Professor Hastings?!" Lunick and Solana called.

Both Pokémon turned towards the group. "Belle?" The Haxorus asked, recognizing the Gardevoir. "Mage?" She asked as she saw the Mismagius

"Do I know you two?" The Conkeldurr asked, shifting his walking cane to his other hand.

The Pokémon Rangers saluted. "Top Ranger's Solana and Lunick, reporting for duty sir!" They called together.

"Hi Professor!" Plusle and Minun added.

"Iris," Gene said. "It's great to see you again."

"Gene?" The Unovan Champion asked in surprise. "Is it really... of course it's you, what else would you be?"

Gene laughed and walked up to his friend, followed by Juniper, Mage and Belle. "I'm glad to see you too," Juniper added.

"Juniper?... Looks like that research of yours carried over huh?"

The Pokémon Professor laughed. "Yeah, looks that way."

Iris' expression suddenly turned to one of annoyance. "How come you got to keep your lab coat?" She looked down at her metallic body. "I miss my dress."

Gene laughed and pulled Iris in for a hug. "You know, this was a lot easier when you were shorter than me."

Iris laughed and patted her friend on the head. "So," She asked. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Oh you know, helping the Princess', talking with Arceus, the usual for us." Belle said nonchalantly.

Iris gaped at them. "You actually met Arceus?... Oh, did you see Zekrom or Reshiram?"

That brought another round of laughter from the group, no matter what, Iris was always interested in her Dragons. "No, but we did meet Deoxys, the Creation Trio, and about ten other Legendaries, most of them at a party one of our Pony friends threw."

Iris shook her head and chuckled. "Alright, you'll have to tell me that story later."

"Will do, and what have you been up to this past week?" Gene asked.

As Iris began to tell the group her story. Mage noticed that Solana and Lunick were talking with the Conkeldurr, who she assumed was the head of the Ranger Union, Professor Hastings.

"Wonder what he has to say." Making sure no one was watching her, Mage turned invisible and floated toward the Fighting-types.

"-but Professor," Lunick said. "We wouldn't have the authority to arrest a Champion normally, let alone in a country outside our jurisdiction."

"Or on another world," Solana added.

"Plus what you're saying sounds mean," Plusle added under her breath.

_What are you planning, old man?_ Mage asked herself.

"Lunick, Solana, you've helped protect Pokémon ever since you joined the Ranger Union, and for that I'll always be grateful," Hastings said with a small bow. "But I can't do this alone. More to the point, I need someone who can tell the local authorities what these people have done."

Mage rolled her eyes.

"That... man," The Professor spat. "Deserves to be locked away," His glare turned to a look of pity. "I just hope it's not too late to help his poor Pokémon."

_If I use Psybeam, followed by Confuse ray..._ Mage thought, glaring a hole into the Conkeldurr's skull.

"Professor... I don't think you need to do that," Solana suddenly said. "Gene... he's actually a really nice guy, and all his Pokémon seem really happy with him." She smiled softly as she looked at Gene and Belle. "Especially Belle."

"Solana's right sir," Lunick said. "I mean, I think we were wrong to arrest every single person who was in a relationship with their Pokémon. At the very least we should have taken a closer look at each of them first."

The Professor looked at the Top Rangers in shock, so much so that his 'walking stick' fell over and he didn't even notice... even when it made a dent in the road. "I... I don't believe what I'm hearing, after everything we taught you..."

"I'm not saying everyone accused of Poképhilia was innocent..." Solana thought for a second, then recanted. "I mean, some of them might have raised Pokémon from infancy for... those reasons," She shuddered at the thought. "But I can't believe that EVERY single person who ever loved their Pokémon did that," She looked up at the shocked Conkeldurr. "That just doesn't seem realistic to me."

Professor Hastings shook his head and turned away. "It may not seem likely, my young Rangers." He leaned down and picked up his cane. "But none the less, humans are only suppose to be with other humans."

Lunick and Solana felt their hearts drop.

"Anything else is a crime against nature," He said with finality.

Lunick and Solana looked to each other, panic on their faces. They were afraid of this outcome. "You might think that," Lunick started, trying to reason with him. "But it doesn't even matter anymore. Every single human who was brought here is a Pokémon now. Anyone else is either a Pony or any other race native to Equus."

"And they allow interspecies relationships here," Solana added quickly.

Professor Hastings sighed and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "What has gotten into you two?" He asked. "Just because we are no longer human, that does not make what those people do okay."

"Lord Arceus seems to disagree with that," Lunick said, hoping that invoking the Pokémon God would put the situation into perspective for him.

The Professor scoffed. "Please don't tell me you believe all those old legends," He sighed. "Arceus is nothing more than a very powerful Pokémon," He simply said with his eyes closed. Too bad too, cause if he had been looking, he would have seen the looks of sheer horror on Lunick and Solana's faces.

_Dead man walking!_ Mage mentally laughed, but managed to keep it in as she continued to watch with growing amusement.

While this was all going on, Korrina and Lucario got stuck with the job of explaining who was who to Twilight and Rainbow Dash. "Alright, can everyone be quiet for a second?" Twilight watched as everyone turned to her. "Thank you, now, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria," She began.

Professor Hastings smiled. "A Princess hmm?"

"My friend Korrina here just told me that you two are Professor Hastings, head of the Ranger Union, and Iris, Champion of the Unova Region." When no one spoke up, Twilight continued. "As a Princess of Equestria, I'd like to formally welcome you to Equus." Twilight had no idea how Earth's government worked, but she figured these two were at least somewhere in the chain of command.

"It's an honor to meet you, your highness," Hastings said with a bow. "If I may, I'd like a moment of your time. There's something of the utmost importance I'd like to discuss with you."

"Um, sure," Twilight replied.

Hastings smiled and lumbered over to the Princess.

"Man," Mage said, becoming visible in between the Rangers. "That guy is a complete jerk. How did you two put up with him?"

Solana bit her lip. "He was in Almia most of the time."

"Except for when came to check in on the different bases," Plusle said.

"And we didn't realize just how biased the law was back then." Lunick added.

"So he never really acted like... this," Minun finished sadly. The little Electric-type had a lot of respect for Professor Hastings, or he used to, at any rate.

Then they all realized Mage had appeared right after Professor Hastings left. "Were you eavesdropping?" Lunick asked.

"Maybe," Mage answered. They both glared at her. "I just wanted to make sure none of you were going to try anything funny." She glared at the Conkeldurr, who was still talking with Twilight. Judging by the look on the Alicorns face, she didn't like the conversation. "No one hurts my family," She growled under her breath.

Meanwhile, Iris was explaining why she had been arguing with Hastings in the middle of the street. "I made the mistake of telling him who I was," She facepalmed. "I didn't know who he was at the time, but still."

"And then the wedding got brought up?" Juniper asked.

Iris scoffed. "He knows he has nothing on me, just because I have a beach house in Undella Town, and I happened to be there just before it was about to start," She smirked. "He has no proof I was involved."

Gene smiled. After the Rangers had interrupted the wedding, he had worried what had happened to Cynthia and Iris and the others, turns out two Champions and an Elite Four Member trumped Pokémon Ranger. He was the only one put on any wanted list.

"WHAT!?" Twilight suddenly shouted.

"That can't be good," Iris commented.

Twilight shook her head. "At least when Solana and Lunick came to me, they were willing to listen," She glared at Hastings. "And their plan wasn't incredibly stupid and, dare I say, racist."

"Calm down Twilight," Juniper said, floating over to the Alicorn. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you Juniper," Twilight said angrily. "Professor Hastings wants me to help enact a plan that would separate all former humans and naturally born Pokémon." She stomped her hoof in annoyance. "So that there isn't any chance of, as he calls it, cross-breeding."

"Seriously?" Iris said with a laugh. "That's just stupid. You sure you're the same guy who ran the Ranger Union?"

Professor Hastings glared at the Unovan Champion, but before he said anything, he noticed the Gardevoir and Gallade standing next to her, arms interlocked. "You," He said coldly.

Belle's eyes widened as the Conkeldurr turned towards them. "Gene Phillips, you are-"

What happened next surprised everyone, even the one who did it. Faster than most could see, Gene shot forward and kicked Hastings' cane out from under him, surprising the Fighting-type so much, he nearly fell over. While he was struggling to keep his balance, Gene grabbed his beard and pulled him down to eye level.

"Never use that name around me again," He said through gritted teeth.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Juniper spoke up."Gene," She said calmly. "Just calm down, I know how you feel about... her, but this," She gestured at what he was doing. "Isn't going to help you."

Gene glared at Professor Hastings for a moment more before letting him go. "I'm going back to the hotel," He said.

Belle shot a glare at Hastings as he grabbed his cane and stared daggers at her mate as he walked away._"Stay away from us,"_ Belle warned telepathically. _"Or you'll understand why none of your Rangers ever caught us."_

Belle excused herself from the group and ran after Gene, followed by Mage.

"Wow," Dash said. "You really pissed him off. What was that about?"

Juniper and Iris looked at each other and sighed. "He hasn't used his last name since his mother turned him in."

Hastings scoffed and turned to Twilight. "Did you see that? He attacked me for-"

"Please stop talking," Twilight held up her hoof, her patience wearing thin from dealing with the old former human. "I'm afraid that you'll say something even stupider, or something that'll make her," She pointed to Iris. "Go berserk, and I don't think I can stop her."

Iris smirked.

"Princess Twilight, I'm sorry if you don't agree, but you cannot allow those who broke laws back on Earth to go unpunished simply because some Pokémon changed the location," Hastings defended. "I know from many years of experience, that people do in fact raise their Pokémon simply to fulfill their perverse desires."

"But it can't be all of them," Twilight deadpanned. "It's not possible that, what? A hundred or so cases a year worldwide, and I assume you're at least sixty from the sound of your voice so..." Twilight stopped as the magnitude hit her. "Six thousand... you really believe more than six thousand people did that?!" She was actually mad now.

Hastings cleared his throat. "Well, not all of them are captured and some reports may be repeated because of that, or a few may be mistakes but-"

"That's not the point!" Twilight interrupted. "Do you actually believe that every human who's ever been in love with a Pokémon raised them just for that purpose?"

The Professor stamped his cane again. "Now see here," He began. "Those laws were put in place for a reason. I formed the Ranger Union to help uphold those laws and I'll be damned if I let some Pokémon stop me from doing my job."

"You should really stop insulting Arceus," Korrina interjected. "You haven't seen what he's capable of," She winced. "And I doubt you'd want to make him angry. After all, he DID bring us all here, AND turned us all into Pokémon."

Hastings tried to respond, but Iris cut him off. "Princess, he's not going to change his mind." She ignored the glare he gave her. "In his mind, any relationship other than a human with another human is a crime against nature."

"It is!" Hastings insisted. "They're not even capable of producing offspring! How can that kind of union be anything but unnatural?"

"What about same sex relationships?" Twilight asked quickly, hoping to catch him off guard by contradicting his own statement.

The Conkeldurr scoffed again. "At least they're the same species." That... really didn't help improve any of their impressions of him.

"That's it!" Rainbow Dash threw her hooves into the air out of frustration. "Just give up on this guy Twi, he's a lost cause." Dash then turned to the rest of the group. "I'm going back to the hotel. Anyone who wants to listen to a back and forth argument that's going nowhere fast, you're welcome to stay here. Everyone else, follow me."

"I'm with her," Iris said, snaking her way through their little gathering and over to the prismatic mare.

"I think I should go check on Gene," Juniper added.

Korrina and Lucario looked at each other, then followed after them. Her own thoughts on Poképhilia aside, Hastings' statement had done nothing to endear him to any of them.

Twilight sighed, before deciding to try one last time. "Let me ask you one question Professor Hastings," She said. "Is there anything I can say or do to make you see that relationships like Gene and Belle's aren't... wrong, perverse, against the laws of nature, or anything else you've said?"

The Professor shook his head. "Princess Twilight, I've been to many of the trials for people just like him, and I've heard every excuse. "I didn't mean to fall in love.", "It just happened naturally.", "They're like us in so many ways.", it's all just lies to protect themselves." He sighed. "I've seen how broken up those poor Pokémon are, after they realize just what their trainers did to them," His gaze fell to the ground. "At least the ones we can get through to."

Twilight didn't know if she felt pity for Hastings because he was so stuck in his ways, or because it seemed society had clouded his mind with hate. Maybe she was pitying the Pokémon who's trainers really did love them, but had been convinced otherwise by people like him. But Twilight knew she felt pity.

"I can convince you that they're bad people," Hastings said, still trying to persuade her. "I know plenty of cases where-"

"Don't," Twilight stopped him, exasperation clear in her voice. "I don't doubt that _some_ of those people deserved what they got. That _some_ of them were actually..." She shuddered. "Using their Pokémon, that _some_were horrible people…" She sighed again. "But not all of them are like that. Gene and Belle are happy together, Falkner and Pidgeot are happy together, and I'm sure dozens of other humans are happy with their Pokémon partners," she sighed. "And I'm certain that they deserve to be happy, so no. I will not help you."

With that Twilight turned away from Hastings. "If you ever change your mind, I live in Ponyville. If you don't..." She looked back the way her friends had gone. "I wouldn't risk showing up. I don't think you'd be welcome for very long." With that, she trotted after her friends.

"Solana, Lunick, Plusle, Minun," Professor Hastings turned to the Rangers and their partners. "You still believe the laws need to be upheld, don't you?"

Solana had her eyes shut, tears leaking through the cracks. Lunick looked up at Professor Hastings with a mixture of anger and pity, while Plusle and Minun glared at him. Then Lunick grabbed Solana's hand and kissed her on the cheek. "She's a Medicham, and she's a human. I'm a Hitmontop, and I'm a human. What does that make us now?"

With that, the Rangers left the Professor alone, heading back for the hotel after everyone else.

Professor Hastings watched them go and stared at the direction they had gone for a good minute after they had rounded the corner. "Hmph," He snorted, disappointed at them. He then turned around and began walking in the opposite direction. "I'll find some of my other Rangers, like Ben, or Summer, perhaps Wendy or Sven. I'm sure they've still got their heads on straight," He continued to list off the Rangers he hoped to find, leaving the street empty.

Once he was out of sight, and had been for a good five minutes, one of the doors opened and a white unicorn mare with an electric blue striped mane walked out. "Hey, thanks again for letting me hide out here," She thanked the occupants of the house. "I don't know what that was about, but I swear, I thought those two were going to go monster movie on Manehattan."

* * *

Spike had had very little experience with other Dragons, all of which had been pretty bad. One had chased him and Twilight in the Everfree after he found its cave. That was pretty bad, and the less said about that disaster during the Great Dragon Migration, the better. So yeah... those incidents had NOT left a good impression about his own species.

So when, out of boredom from hanging around the library all day, Spike decided to see what the Dragon Pokémon he had met at Pinkie's Party were up to, he had no idea what to expect.

"I'd like to call this meeting of the Training Dragon club to order," Bagon said.

What Spike hadn't expected, was the Pokémon equivalent of a Cutie Mark Crusader meeting. The five of them were currently in a clearing near Fluttershy's cottage.

"First order of business, I'd like to welcome Spike to his first meeting," A small round of applause went up before Bagon continued. "Now, on to the next item." He cleared his throat and began. "Since we are in this new world, a world without humans, we need to rethink what our goal is. We're no longer waiting for a trainer to pick us out and take us on an adventure."

There were slow, and somewhat sad nods all around.

"But...!" Bagon continued. "That doesn't mean we have no purpose here. Lord Arceus has set up residence not far from here, and perhaps we can help him in whatever plans he has."

Spike smiled at his words. These little guys sure had some big dreams.

"But before we begin making any plans, we need to train and become stronger than ever." He smiled at them. "That's right my fellow Dragons, without the need to wait for Trainers, we can push ourselves harder than ever before, until finally we... Evolve!"

Every Dragon present cheered, except for Spike, who just did his best not to look confused.

Before Bagon could continue, Fluttershy trotted into the clearing. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I thought you could use some lunch." Fluttershy set down a platter of apple slices and what looked to be a few small bowls of fish.

"Thank you Miss Fluttershy!" Axew chirped happily, picking up one of the bowls.

Fluttershy giggled. "It's no trouble, really."

While the Pokémon ate, Fluttershy trotted over to Spike. "Did you want anything Spike?" She asked.

"No thanks," He said. "I made myself a SLT before I left the library."

"SLT?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sapphire, lettuce and tomato," Spike explained, licking his lips.

Fluttershy smiled. "So," She began. "What are they up to?"

Spike shrugged. "I think they want to train so they can Evolve," Spike answered. "I think they're like the Pokémon version of the Crusaders."

"And that would make Evolution their Cutie Mark?" Fluttershy asked.

"Something like that."

Fluttershy nodded, then she remembered something that Gene had said, about how Pokémon trained. "D-does that mean they're going to... fight?"

Spike tapped his chin. "Ya know, I didn't actually think of that."

Fluttershy gulped, she didn't like it when other ponies fought, she didn't like it when animals fought, she really just didn't like fighting in general. But if Pokémon needed to fight in order to grow... that put her in a difficult situation.

"Spike," She said. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure thing Fluttershy, what do you need me to do?" Usually when Fluttershy needed something, it wasn't anything to straining.

"Could you watch those four while they're training, and make sure they don't hurt anyone?" She didn't want to hinder the Pokémon's growth, but she didn't want to condone fighting either. "I-if it's something like an official battle, like what happened between Belle and Vespiquen," She bit her lip. "Then... only stop them if it looks like someone's in real danger."

Spike stared at Fluttershy, shocked that she wasn't begging him not to let them fight. "Sure thing Fluttershy," He finally said. "I'll do my best."

Fluttershy nodded. "And if anything happens... come get me okay?" Spike saluted and Fluttershy smiled. "Thanks Spike," Fluttershy said. "I should probably head back now, when I left Buneary was chasing Angel around the yard."

With that Fluttershy fluttered back to her cottage to check on her animals and the Pokémon, she had been trying to get them all acquainted, but the animals were still skittish about the new arrivals.

Spike made his way back over to the group just as they were finishing up lunch. "Okay, now that lunch is done, it's training time," Bagon said with a smile. "Who wants to go first?"

"Oh, I'll go!" Axew volunteered.

"Me too," Dratini said.

"Alright," Bagon nodded. "Take your positions."

Spike watched as the young Dragon-types took up a position on either side of the field, while Bagon stood off to the side. "So what happens now?" Spike asked.

"They're going to have a little battle," Gible answered.

Spike's eyes widened. _That happened a lot faster than I thought it would._

"Alright," Bagon began. "I want a good, clean fight you two. Are you ready?"

"Ready!" Axew and Dratini said together.

"Begin!"

"Okay," Spike said quietly. "It seems like an official battle. Bagon's even acting as referee."

Spike watched with bated breath as the battle began.

"Thunder Wave!" Dratini called.

Spike's eyes widened as a ring of what looked like lightning spread outward from Dratini.

Axew smiled. "Nope." And dug into the ground, dodging the attack.

Dratini looked around, watching the ground. Suddenly, Axew burst from the ground behind her, claws raised. "Scratch attack!"

Dratini jumped in surprised and shouted. "Twister!"

A whirlwind formed around Axew, stopping him before he hit Dratini and carrying him with it as it spun around the clearing.

"Help! Make it stop! I'm getting dizzy!" Spike almost laughed as Axew continued to spin. When the attack finally died down, Axew was dropped on his head, eyes still spinning.

"You okay?" Dratini asked.

"Yeah," Axew said, stumbling to his feet. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" Dratini asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause you're facing the wrong way."

Realizing his mistake Axew turned himself back towards his opponent. "Ok, no more mister nice Dragon, Dual Chop!"

Axew ran towards Dratini, prepared to strike the Dragon Pokémon. But Dratini was ready. "Agility!" She dodged Axew as he ran past. "Time to end this," She said.

Spike gulped, worrying what attack was coming next.

Dratini smiled. "Now for my signature move,"

Axew's eyes widened. "No! Anything but that!" He begged.

"What's she gonna do?" Spike asked.

Gible laughed. "You'll see."

"Too late!" Dratini cried. "Hug attack!"

Spike watched in confusion as Dratini wrapped herself around Axew and squeezed. "Gak!" Axew cried.

"What's happening?" Spike asked.

Gible giggled and explained. "Dratini does that whenever she uses Wrap," She gestured to her friend, who was still squeezing the life out of Axew. "Then she proceeds to crush them in a hug until they break out, or forfeit."

"Or pass out, if they're stubborn," Bagon added.

"You give up yet?" Dratini asked innocently.

"Never!" Axew squirmed, trying to get out.

"Okay." Dratini then tightened her coils, Axew's eyes bulging out of his head as she did.

"Alright, alright, I give!" Axew finally relented.

"Yay!" Dratini cried as she released her grip on her friend. "I win!"

Spike laughed, compared to the last battle he'd seen, that one had been... cute, almost. "So is this what you guys do all day?" He asked.

"Usually," Bagon answered. "But not always, sometimes we challenge other Pokémon to battles, sometimes we do other stuff."

"But we mostly practice with each other," Gible finished.

"Oh!" Dratini suddenly cried. "We didn't ask if our newest member wanted to go first."

Bagon nodded. "You're right, Spike?" He asked. "Why don't you go next? You can pick whoever you want to battle... except for Axew."

"Hey!" Axew cried. "I'm good to go, nothing can keep this guy down." That fact that he was still lying on the ground didn't support this argument.

It was then that Spike realized that he had joined a club where the members regularly fought with each other. And that they all probably outmatched him in terms of power. "Umm," He said, trying to think of an excuse. "You know how I said I'm not a Pokémon?"

"Yeah," Bagon answered.

Spike smiled nervously. "Well, that also means I don't grow like you guys, that's to say, by battling." Spike hoped that his message was getting through to them, he really, really, _REALLY_ hoped it was getting through to them.

Bagon smiled. "Don't worry Spike, we'll go easy on ya." So much for hope...

Dratini nodded. "We always start out small with new members."

Spike laughed nervously. "N-no, seriously guys, I mean, I'm good," Spike was beginning to back away at this point. "Twilight says if I keep eating a balanced diet, gems, fruits, vegetables, then I'll be taller than her in no time." The other Dragons were following Spike as he back away.

"Come on Spike," Dratini said. "Just give it a try."

"I know I was nervous when I had my first battle," Axew admitted. "But Nurse Joy had me patched up in no time."

Spike smiled at them one last time, then took off running. The remaining members of the Training Dragon club looked at each other in confusion, then back at the rapidly retreating form of Spike.

"After him!" Bagon cried, and the chase was on.


	34. Chapter 31

Play this for the chase scene

watch?v=yP4iVSFyWQ4

Spike ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, which wasn't as fast as when he rode on Twilight's back, but had so far been fast enough to keep ahead of the Dragon Pokémon chasing him. Granted, most of them had legs which were just as short as his, and one had no legs whatsoever, but all Spike cared about was NOT being forced to fight any of them.

"Come on Spike," Gible called. "It'll be fun. Axew just battled Dratini, and he's fine."

"I'm not a Pokémon!" Spike cried. "The same rules don't apply to me!"

"You're overreacting," Bagon replied. "And you're just nervous for your first battle. Slow down and we'll talk about it."

Spike still had no intention of slowing down, at least not until he was somewhere with witnesses. Too bad for him, they were still a bit far from town.

"Help!" Spike wasn't expecting anyone to come to his rescue, since Fluttershy probably couldn't hear him anymore, and nopony had a reason to be out here at this time.

Fortunately, there was somebody around who heard Spike's plea. They just weren't a Pony.

As the Pokémon members of the Training Dragon club closed the gap between them, Spike wondered which one of them would be the one to do him in. _If I end up getting hugged to death the girls will never let me live it down._

Thankfully, just before the Pokémon reached him, someone interveined. A ring of fire erupted several feet away from the Dragons, distracting them long enough for Spike to put a little more distance between them before stopping to see what had happened.

A week ago, a six foot tall bird thing coming out of a ring of fire would have sent Spike running again. Now, he just wondered what he was doing here.

"Hello Spike," Blaziken greeted. "I heard screaming... do you need help?"

Spike pointed back at the Dragons who had been chasing him. "They... want me... to battle... them," He panted.

Blaziken looked back at the little Dragon-types, who were either gaping at him or hiding behind their friends. Blaziken smiled. "Is that right?"

"Y-yeah," Bagon replied. "We're the Training Dragon Club, and we were going to help Spike train so we can all become stronger!"

Blaziken chuckled. "Well then, if you want to train, why don't you have a go at an old pro like me?"

Bagon paled as he looked up at the Fire-type. They may have had a Type resistance, but no way were they ready to take on a fully evolved Pokémon. "Uhh... no... thank you?"

Blaziken raised an eyebrow. "You sure? I promise I'll go easy on you."

Bagon shook his head. "We're sure. In fact, we were just about done anyway," He smiled nervously at Blaziken, then turned to Spike. "Bye Spike, see you at the next meeting!"

(Theme end)

Spike swore those four moved faster running away than they did chasing him. "You alright?" Blaziken asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," Spike answered. "Thanks for that, I thought they were going to kill me!"

Blaziken laughed. "I doubt they'd be able to hurt you too much. Pokémon or not, a Dragon is a Dragon." He'd had enough experience with Dragons to know not to underestimate any of them.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Spike asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Just out for a walk," Blaziken answered. "May's in town with Misty and I get the feeling she needs some time to catch up and get used to the situation."

Spike nodded, then noticed both he and Blaziken were walking the same way. "So..." Spike began, trying to think of a conversation topic. "How did you and May meet?"

At that, Blaziken smiled as he began to reminisce about his younger days (the equivalent of Childhood for humans), his face gaining an expression that seemed to say 'Ah, the good old days'. "I was given to her as her starter Pokémon back when I was just a Torchic," He answered.

"Really?" Spike asked in shock.

"Yeah, she wasn't even all that interested in being a Trainer back then. Of course, that changed pretty quickly, especially after she decided to become a coordinator."

"A what?"

"A Pokémon Coordinator. They're trainers who train their Pokémon to compete in contests instead of Gym Battles," Blaziken explained. "You impress the judges in the performance stage, then take out rival coordinators in the battle stage."

Spike took a second to piece that together. "So... like a Pokémon beauty pageant or something?"

Blaziken froze and glared daggers at Spike. "No," He said. "It is not a beauty pageant."

Spike nodded. "Alright, alright," He said. They walked in silence for a few seconds before Spike continued. "I don't know what surprises me more. The fact that a Pokémon like you competed in pageants or that they give Pokémon like you to new trainers just like that."

Blaziken sighed. Ignoring the pageant joke, he explained. "I didn't start out as a Blaziken you know. I did say I was a Torchic back them."

"Yeah, yeah, you Evolved and grew stronger, but you couldn't have looked that different, right?"

Blaziken suddenly developed an interest in the sky. "What?" Spike asked. "Oh come on, you've got to at least tell me what you looked like."

"Well..." Blaziken began. "As a Torchic I was... about a foot tall, bright orange feathers." He looked away from Spike. "No arms yet, just bird-like feet... I can see you're trying not to laugh you know."

His cover blown, Spike burst out laughing. "You were a chicken!?" he laughed, trying to picture a chicken becoming something like Blaziken.

"Technically I was the Chick Pokémon," Blaziken said. That...didn't help, evident by how Spike was now rolling on the ground. "It's not funny!" The Blaze Pokémon shouted. "I'm pretty sure May thought I was female for a week at the beginning," He muttered under his breath.

"Oh Celestia!" Spike gasped. "Stop! I can't breath!"

Blaziken was thankful that his red skin hid the blush on his face.

Spike stood up and wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry," He said. "I shouldn't be laughing but... how does something like this." He held his claw a foot off the ground. "Grow into... this." He gestured towards Blaziken.

"My second form, Combusken, was twice as tall and had three inch long claws." Blaziken answered.

Spike froze for a second, imagined what that might look like, then said, "You Pokémon have really weird growth, and that's coming from a guy who grew to sixty feet tall from hoarding."

"That sounds like an interesting story," Blaziken commented.

"Not really," Spike sighed. "Dragons grow based on how big their hoard is, or that's how it seems at least. And after my birthday, I got greedy cause of all the presents, which kickstarted my greed growth."

"So what? You're not gonna grow unless you start hoarding?" Blaziken asked.

"Nah, from what the Princess told Twilight about it I just won't end up a forty foot behemoth unless I start hoarding."

Blaziken nodded. "How long have you know Princess Twilight anyway? You two seem close."

"My entire life actually," Spike admitted. "Twilight hatched me when I was just an egg."

Blaziken smiled. "I've known May most of my life as well."

"How old are you anyway?" Spike asked out of curiosity.

"Well, in humans years I'm fourteen," Blaziken answered

Spike stared at the Pokémon in shock. "You seem older. Like, _a lot_ older"

Blaziken shrugged. "While I've been with May since I was three and have been traveling with her for eleven years, I'm in my mid twenties if you're going by how Pokémon age," He saw the confused look on Spike's face. "Evolution messes with the aging process, both in body and mind."

"Sooo... you're actually twenty something?" Spike asked.

"Yes, Pokémon don't age solely by years. At least not until we reach our final form...or we decide not to evolve for one reason or another."

"Ohh, that makes sense," Spike said. "So May's what? Twenty? Twenty one?"

Blaziken scoffed. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to guess a woman's age?"

Spike turned away from the Fire-type. "Twilight did," He muttered.

Blaziken quickly realized his mistake. "Spike... I'm sorry. If it's any consolation I barely knew my mother." Spike raised an eyebrow. "It's actually not all that uncommon for Pokémon raised by humans, especially the ones commonly offered as Starter Pokémon like me." Spike's expression was clearly saying, 'go on'. "I was hatched at a Pokémon Ranch in the Hoenn region. I was raised there for about two years before I was sent to Professor Birch's lab and met May a few months later."

Spike got the feeling he didn't like talking about the subject, so he dropped it. "It's alright, you didn't mean anything by it... and sorry for making you tell me that."

Blaziken sighed. "It's alright, I'm glad I got to meet May... and she's twenty one by the way."

Spike nodded, then another question popped into his head. "So... how's your relationship with May?"

Blaziken flinched, as he knew the real answer for that, but he quickly regained himself, hoping Spike hadn't noticed. "She's my best friend," He answered. "We've been through a lot together."

Spike smiled at Blaziken. He had noticed the flinch from earlier, and he had a good idea why. "And now that she's a Delphox?"

Blaziken looked down at the little Dragon. "Just what are you implying?" Spike smiled mischievously. "What?" Blaziken asked, Spike didn't answer. "Dragon, you will tell me what you mean!" He shouted, fire flickering to life in his palms.

"You like May, don't you?" Spike finally said, unfazed by the fire that was obviously a threat. After all, he _was_ fireproof.

Blaziken just dropped his hands and continued walking. "I don't see how that is relevant," The Blaze Pokémon argued.

"It's totally relevant," Spike said. "And besides, she's a Pokémon now."

"It's not that simple Spike," Blaziken said. "May didn't harbor any feelings for me on Earth other than friendship. That hasn't changed."

"You sure?" Spike asked. "Cause after that stallion attacked her back in Trottingham she seemed really glad that you were there when she came to."

Once again, Blaziken thanked Arceus for making his skin red.

"Just admit it, I won't tell anyone."

"No Spike."

"Come on, I'll even tell you my secret crush."

"I'm not admitting anything, and you have a crush on Rarity." When Blaziken saw the shocked look on Spike's face, he sighed. "Fluttershy may have let that piece of information slip while I was talking to her about... something."

"What something?" Spike asked.

"None of your business," Blaziken answered.

Spike huffed. "You know, you refusing to answer the question is just making my point for me."

Blaziken said nothing.

"Come on dude, there's no reason to be embarrassed," Spike said. "I mean May's a real... fox!"

Spike started laughing at his pun, but stopped when he saw Blaziken was glaring down at him again.

"Shutting up now." Spike mimed zipping his lip and for a few moments he and Blaziken walked in silence.

"So what do you think your kids would look like?" Spike broke that silence pretty quickly.

Blaziken groaned. It was going to be a long and awkward walk to town.

* * *

Back on the floor their hotel rooms all shared, Twilight and everyone else investigating the incidents in Manehattan, were going over their next course of action.

"Got any threes?" Rainbow asked.

"Go fish," Iris replied.

Or they had tried to. Iris hadn't been able to add any information to what they already knew, and after their recent encounter on the street they were taking a break, at least until Pinkie got back.

Getting Iris into the hotel had also been a challenge. Turns out if you walk into a lobby with a walking guillotine, ponies started screaming.

"So Iris," Twilight asked. "You're the Champion of Unova?"

"Yep. I beat Alder, the Champion before me, in an official challenge match and took the title when I was sixteen," She answered proudly.

"That young huh?" Twilight asked.

"Youngest Champion to date," She said. "Though only by a few months, Cynthia took the title from the last Sinnoh Champion at sixteen too."

"And she's held that position longer than any other," Gene said. "Cynthia I mean."

"You know, I'm curious," Korrina said, walking into the room holding a can of soda. "How did you two meet anyway? And why didn't you." She gestured to Iris. "Try to arrest him."

"We met Iris on the beach near Undella Town," Belle answered. "She was with Cynthia and a few others, getting ready for a day at the beach, Gene and I were already there with the rest of the team."

"Why would a day at the beach be a problem?" Dash asked, looking over her cards. "Got any fours?"

Iris handed Dash a card then explained. "It's not that they were having a day at the beach, it's how we found them."

"I didn't think we were that close to any settlements," Gene sighed. "And Webber was suppose to keep watch."

"You'd think someone with six eyes would be good at that," Belle commented. On the couch, Twilight paled, not liking the implications of that detail.

"And they walked in on us after we had fallen asleep in each others arms," Gene said.

Twilight smiled.

"Originally we were just going to wake them up and see what was going on," Iris said. "But when Belle woke up and saw us," Iris smiled smugly at the Gardevoir. "She screamed, "You will not harm my mate!", then tried to take on my Haxorus, Cynthia's Milotic, and Shauntal's Cofagrigus."

"I almost did," Belle muttered.

"But when Shauntal managed to knocked Belle back towards the ocean, Gene intercepted her."

"It was getting dark, and I heard there were Jellicent around there," He defended.

"She calmed down enough so we could actually talk to them," Iris smiled. "And explain that we weren't going to arrest Gene."

"Wait," Korrina held up a paw. "You weren't?"

"No," Iris said. "Cynthia never supported the law, and neither did Alder, they never told me why, and after I became Champion they both kinda took me under their wing and taught me."

"And Shauntal and I read the old history books," Juniper added. "Since she had a lot of really old tomes in her hall at the Pokémon League, she found the history of what caused Poképhilia to become a crime and shared it with me when I was just starting out as a Pokémon Professor."

"So let me get this straight," Korrina said. "Two current Champions, one of whom is widely recognized as the second most powerful trainer in the world, one former Champion, an Elite Four member, and a Regional Professor, all supported Poképhilia?"

"Skyla did too," Juniper added. "And Elesa, plus a few others from various regions."

Korrina blinked and thought for a second. "You guys are some of the most influential trainers on the planet, how did no one know any of this? And, more to the point, why wasn't there a movement for change or something?"

"We kept our opinions on the down low so we wouldn't attract any attention to ourselves," Iris explained.

"And Cynthia _did_ have something planned, though she wasn't letting many details out," Juniper said.

"She was planning a meeting," Iris added. "With other Gym Leaders, Elite Four members and various other people who supported Pokémon/human relationships," Everyone looked at her in shock. "We were going to hold the meeting in Undella town, Cynthia invited people from every region, she said there was even another Champion coming, someone who would have a big impact on the publics opinion."

"That's what you and Seth were talking about," Twilight said to Juniper. "Back at the library."

"Yeah," Juniper sighed. "Then Arceus happened."

Everyone was silent for a moment. "So let me get this straight," Korrina said. "Arceus pulled everyone to another planet, just before the biggest social reformation movement since the creation of the Pokéball was about to take place?"

Iris nodded.

There was a pregnant pause, before Korrina burst out laughing. "Oh that's rich!" Korrina laughed. "I mean, come on! Really? He didn't think to look into that BEFORE transporting all of us here?"

Before anyone could respond, there was a knock at the door.

"You think that's-" Rainbow was interrupted as the door flew open and a pink blur shot into the room, scattering the cards from Dash and Iris' game.

"Pinkie," Dash finished redundantly, as the party pony was now standing on the bed, smiling.

"Oh. My. Gosh, you guys! You'll never believe what I- HUh!" Pinkie gasped when she saw Iris. "Hi, my names Pinkie, who are you? Why do you have an ax on your face? Why are you here? What-pffmmhphfh.."

Pinkie cocked her head at the cyan hoof holding her mouth shut. "Pinkie," Rainbow said. "This is Iris. She's one of Gene's friends."

Dash took her hoof away and Pinkie smiled. "Hi Iris, I'm Pinkie Pie,"

Iris smiled nervously. Gene had warned her about Pinkie Pie. "Hi Pinkie," Iris held out her claw and Pinkie shook it.

"I'm just so glad that Genie found one of his friends, I mean he already found Fang and Juniper and Draco and Mage but you can never have too many friends,"

"Pinkie?" Twilight interjected. "You were about to say something?"

"Oh, right," Pinkie hopped back onto the bed. "You're never going to believe this. I found the most amazing thing while I was out!"

"Wait, did you actually find the Zoroark?" Rainbow asked.

"Even better," Pinkie said.

"Did you find something else out about where he's hiding?" Juniper asked.

"Even better,"

Twilight sighed. "Did you make a new friend?"

"Even bet- No wait, there's nothing better than making new friends," Pinkie said.

"Why don't you just tell us what you found Pinkie?" Gene supplied.

Pinkie smiled and pulled a piece of paper from her mane. "Look, DJ Pon-3's in Manehattan!" Pinkie said with a smile. "Can we go and see Vinyl's show?"

Twilight and Rainbow Dash groaned. "Pinkie, we didn't come here to see a concert,"

"But it's Vinyl!" Pinkie defended. "If we don't go and support her, then we're being bad friends."

"Who's Vinyl?" Belle asked innocently.

Pinkie gasped. "How can you not..." She stopped mid sentence. "Vinyl Scratch is one of my friends from Ponyville. DJ Pon-3's her stage name."

"And you want to go to one of her shows?" Korrina asked.

"Yepperoni!" Pinkie said. "So can we go Twilight? Can we? Can we? Can we?" She asked, jumping up and down so fast to the point Iris was worried she'd pop.

Twilight sighed. "No Pinkie, we have work to do, and in case you forgot, you were suppose to be looking for the Zoroark."

"Oh yeah," Pinkie remembered. "I didn't find him, but I did see a bunch of other Pokémon. There was this really big bird in the park, it had red feathers in its head, and there was this big lumpy thing that was eating trash, but turns out it's MADE of trash, and I saw a little yellow thing with a BIG mouth talking to a Lucario."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned to Juniper. "What?" The professor asked.

"What Pokémon is she talking about and should we be worried that they're here?" Twilight asked.

Juniper sighed and rubbed her eyes. "What color was the bird Pinkie?"

"Hmmm, dark grey," She answered.

"Probably a Staraptor, they're kinda territorial but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. The trash Pokémon is called Garbodor, despite their... well, toxic nature, they're usually quite friendly and helpful...unless provoked, but that's the case for all Pokémon in general."

"And the one with the giant mouth is probably a Mawile," Korrina said. "And it shouldn't cause too much trouble."

"Good. Moving on," Twilight turned to Pinkie. "We are not going to Vinyl's show."

"But Twilight!" Pinkie began.

"No buts Pinkie," Twilight said firmly. "We're here to investigate the disturbances this guy has caused, and I doubt Vinyl Scratch has anything to do with it."

Pinkie crossed her forelegs and pouted but didn't say anything else.

"Now then," Twilight began again. "Since we're all here... wait are we missing some people... Pokémon?"

"Solana and Lunick said they were going for a walk," Korrina said. "Plusle and Minun went with them and Lucario wanted to see if this place has an exercise room or something."

"And I seem to have lost Mage," Gene added. "She does this a lot actually. She'll wander off somewhere, and show up a few hours later."

"Usually with a new book or someone she'd been messing with," Belle said. "Once she came back with a library card in her name, and to this day I'm still not sure how she did that."

Twilight hung her head. After all this, the fact remained that they really were still at square one in dealing with the Zoroark. "Ok, does anyone have any idea how to find this guy?"

"Well... what do we know about this guy so far? Maybe that could give us a hint," Gene suggested.

"We know that when he first got here, he was using his powers to scare ponies," Twilight supplied.

"Not a usual Zoroark tactic, I might add. They usually don't even let their victims realize they're in an illusion." Juniper added. "This suggests he might be a former human... or he's a Zoroark with very unusual behavior."

"We know that since then, he's been confronting and likely talking to other Pokémon who were causing trouble in the city," Korrina said. "But he was never seen, so he's probably nervous about what Ponies might do if they saw him."

"And that he only confronted Pokémon who were already causing trouble, instead of trying to get the more threatening ones out of the city before they did anything," Belle said.

"And that he knows we're looking for him," Twilight said. "So he's going to be wary."

"Correction," Rainbow Dash said. "He knows you three," She pointed to Twilight, Korrina, and Juniper. "And Lucario are looking for him."

"Good point Rainbow," Twilight said. "He probably doesn't know about the rest of you, so we at least have that."

"Oh!" Pinkie suddenly shouted. "Idea! We can stage an attack or something, have someone start acting like they're going to cause trouble, then maybe this Zoroark guy will show up and stop them!"

Everyone let that sink in. "That's... a really good idea Pinkie," Twilight commended. "But who are we going to get to play the part?"

Several sets of eyes suddenly fell upon the Dragon who was reshuffling the deck of cards. When Iris noticed, she huffed. "And why does everyone automatically decide I'm going to do it?" She asked indignantly.

"Well," Dash began. "You are kinda... terrifying, to some ponies."

The shiny Pokémon crossed her arms. "That's stereotyping. Just because I'm a Dragon-type doesn't mean I'm destructive and violent."

"We know," Twilight said. "But logically, out of anyone here, you could make the biggest scene."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Iris shouted.

"Iris, you're almost six feet tall," Gene interjected. "Not even mentioning the ax blades on your face, that's pretty intimidating, especially to a Pony."

Iris glared at him, before sighing, as no matter how she tried to deny it, he had a point. "Well... fine, but what if someone else shows up? Like a trained Pokémon who thinks I'm attacking."

"Don't worry Iris," Belle said. "I'll be nearby in case anything goes wrong."

"And Lucario will be too," Korrina added.

"No," Twilight suddenly said. "We're probably only going to have one shot at this, and if he sees anyone he _knows_ is looking for him, he might figure out that it's a trap."

"So we're seriously going through with this?" Iris asked nervously.

"Oh come on Iris, don't be such a worry wort," Gene smirked. "Unless you're scared."

Iris froze, then slowly turned towards the Gallade. "What did you say?"

Gene smiled. "You heard me."

Iris glared at him. "No one accuses me of being afraid! I'm Iris, the Dragon Master!"

"Then prove it," He prodded. "You're a Haxorus. What could possibly be a threat to you now?"

"You know what?" Iris said. "You're right! He's just a Zoroark. No way he could beat a Haxorus. Not in a million years."

"Great. So, where are we gonna set this up?" Gene asked, inwardly smirking, and if it weren't for the fact he didn't have human fingers anymore, he would have been making a 'V' sign now.

"Somewhere where there'll be a lot of ponies," Twilight said. "But not where anyone could get hurt, or where you'll cause too much damage."

"We could try the park," Dash suggested. "Or you could climb up a building like in those monster movies."

"Rainbow Dash, that's a terrible idea," Twilight deadpanned. "We want to draw this guy's attention, not alert the royal guard."

"Well, I don't see you coming up with suggestions," Rainbow muttered.

"Am I going to have to climb a skyscraper?" Iris asked nervously. "Cause Haxorus can't fly." That and she REALLY didn't want to test how durable her new body was in the event that she fell. Being a smear on the ground was not something she wanted.

"We could have her rampage down main street or something," Korrina offered. "Your cops don't carry guns do they?"

Iris' eyes widened in fear at the thought. She didn't feel like testing whether or not Haxorus scales were bullet proof.

"I don't know what a gun is," Twilight said, much to Iris' relief. "Most officers carry clubs, while royal guards carry swords, bows and spears."

"I'm starting to doubt this idea," Iris said, though no one seemed to hear her.

"Oh! We could have her fight another monster," Pinkie began. "And everyone will originally think she's the bad guy, but then the other monster turns out to be the bad guy and-"

"Are you making a plan or a movie?" Iris asked incredulously. "Cause I can't tell the difference."

"Well... how about we just have her stomp her way down a road and scare a few ponies?" Belle offered. "She doesn't even have to smash anything, since the ponies will probably provide all the commotion we need."

Iris nodded. "I like that idea, let's do Belle's plan." She didn't want anyone else to come up with another idea, especially if said ideas came at the risk of grievous bodily harm in the event something went wrong.

Twilight nodded. "Then it's settled. Once the others get back, we'll head out and start this plan... after we find a good spot... maybe around town hall, since there'll be plenty of witnesses."

"Sounds like a plan," Gene said. "Too bad you guys can't come."

"But I wanna see Iris go berserk," Korrina whined. Whether this plan worked or not, it sure seemed like something she could get some entertainment out of, since its not everyday you plan to enact a scene out of a monster movie.

"No," Twilight said with a sigh. "He's right, we can't risk ruining this, and if he sees us there, he might figure out it's a trap."

Korrina sighed and crossed her arms. "I can always play back my memories of the event," Belle offered.

Korrina smiled. "Thanks."

"Alright," Twilight said, rubbing her hooves together. "Let's do this." With that, she trotted out the door. After a minute, she came back in. "We're still waiting for the others to get back, plus I'm not going."

"Sooo, what do we do now?" Pinkie asked.

No one spoke for a moment, then Dash interrupted the silence. "Got any threes?"


	35. Chapter 32

Iris felt extremely awkward as she made her way down the street leading to city hall, though it wasn't because of the odd looks everypony was giving her...though those certainly didn't help either. Rather, she felt awkward because any second now, Belle was going to tell her to start acting like she was pissed off.

"_Pinkie Pie's in position,"_ Belle said. _"And Solana and Lunick are ready whenever you are."_

Iris gulped. The group was spread out in hopes of spotting the Zoroark coming, or if he got away before they could talk to him, leaving. Twilight and the others the Zoroark had seen looking for him before were a few blocks away, so they wouldn't arouse any suspicion, but Belle said she could connect to them if the plan worked.

"_Usually I'm the one who stops Dragons from rampaging,"_ Iris sighed. _"Sorry, but this just feels... weird to me. I'm not a naturally angry person."_

The connection was silent for a moment, then Belle returned. _"Gene's asking me to patch him through."_

"_What seems to be the problem Iris?"_ Gene asked.

"_I feel kinda uncomfortable doing this Gene,"_ Iris answered.

Iris couldn't see him, but Gene smirked. _"If you want we could have Belle do it. It'd just be one more thing Fairy-types are better at."_

Iris froze on the spot. _"What was that? I think the connection got messed up for a second."_

"_I'm just saying, I always thought Dragons were better at rampaging and scaring people,"_ This was actually a sore spot for Iris. The Unovan Champion hadn't had much love for Fairy-types, growing up in a Dragon oriented city, and she took it as a personal challenge to herself and Dragon Trainers everywhere whenever a challenger came in thinking they could sweep her team with a few Fairy-types. She made it her personal vendetta to obliterate them whenever possible.

Oddly enough, she held no such animosity for Belle, counting the Gardevoir amongst her closest friends. However, Gene had found out about it after a conversation with Shauntal and had since used it to push Iris' buttons whenever he needed to.

"_I guess my fairy princess will just have to do it,"_ Gene said.

"_Gene!"_ Belle snapped. _"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"_

Gene shrugged. _"A few, but it's still an adorable nickname for a beautiful girl."_

Belle blushed at those words. _"I don't like being called a princess,"_ The Gardevoir mumbled.

"_But you'll always be my Princess,"_ Gene said sweetly.

"_Um... could you two bicker... or flirt, whichever this is, in private?"_ Solana's voice came over the connection, discomfort clear in her tone. _"Cause I think we can all hear you."_

"_Aww, I wasn't going to say anything,"_ Mage whined. _"I was hoping to scare them once they got distracted."_

"_Gotta say Gene, I agree with Belle, I've seen what she can do and let me tell you, she ain't no princess,"_ Dash's voice chimed in.

"_You're missing the point Dashie,"_ Pinkie began. _"He saying that she's the most important girl in his world, and that'd he'd do anything for her."_

"_Guess that makes Solana my princess then,"_ Lunick said jokingly. When everyone fell silent, Lunick froze. _"Did... did I think that out loud?!"_

"_Ah hah! I knew you two were a couple!"_ Mage exclaimed.

While the rest of the group broke out into an all out shouting match, Iris began to get a headache from the voices in her head. She had never liked group telepathy to begin with and now with everyone shouting... well, let's just say it was hell for her nerves

"Could you guys stop acting like a bunch of little kids?!" She snapped, before quickly clasping her hands over her mouth when she realized she had just screamed it out loud.

Everypony in the vicinity was now staring at her, and since Twilight hadn't cast the translation spell on her, what they had just heard was. "Hax Haxorus hax hax!"

"Uhhh..." Iris looked around at the shocked ponies.

That was all the time it took for their minds to catch up with them. "Everypony run!"

Ponies panicked and began running around like mad. Iris, forgetting the plan, tried to calm them down. Her attempts only served to panic the ponies even more. After a few minutes, everypony in the area had scattered, leaving Iris standing awkwardly in the middle of an abandoned street while everyone else was hiding.

"_Well that worked... kind of,"_ Solana commented. _"What do we do now?"_

"_I think we assumed the Zoroark would show up to confront the rampaging Haxorus,"_ Belle answered.

"_Did anyone consider what would happen if this guy wasn't near town hall when we did this?"_ Mage asked. _"Cause if he's in another part of the city, he might take awhile to get here, if he even shows up."_

"_Good point,"_ Gene said. _"Iris, just try to look... I don't know, rampage-y."_

Iris grimaced. "I'm really beginning to doubt this plan...again." Despite that, she pulled her arms up to her chest and took a slightly slanted posture, then began wandering around.

"_What are you doing?"_ Belle asked, not exactly sure what to think.

"_Trying to look rampage-y,"_ Iris mumbled.

"_Well...try something else,"_ Rainbow suggested. _"You look stupid like that."_

Iris stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "You know what?" Iris shot back. "If you think you can do a better job, why don't you came out here and try?!" She growled, her tail slamming into the ground like a whip, and accidentally causing a nearby street lamp to fall over.

"_Alright Iris, point taken,"_ Gene said calmly. _"Now calm down."_

"Calm?" Iris' eye twitched, as she took a particularly heavy step, leaving a sizable dent in the ground. "I thought you wanted me to go on a rampage?! I thought you wanted ME to be the monster!" Iris shouted, her tail whacking into the street again, the vibration actually breaking the glass windows of several nearby stores. "Well here I am! On a rampage in this stupid city!" Iris kicked a nearby trash can, it flew over a building only to land on top of somepony's carriage. "I didn't want to be a monster in all this, but I guess I don't really have a choice now do I?" By this point she was so pissed, she didn't realize the green aura that now covered her tail, signifying a Dragon Tail attack, and when it slammed into the ground this time, a small earthquake could be felt as glass broke, street lamps fell over, and fire hydrants burst.

Before anyone could respond a new voice chimed in. "Personally, I think everyone has a choice when it comes to that," Iris turned to see a Zoroark strolling towards her. "But right now, your choices aren't exactly screaming, 'good samaritan'."

Iris just stared for a minute, one thought in her head. _"What do you know, this crazy plan actually worked... Now what?"_

An awkward silence descended on their mental conversation. _"Uhh…"_ Twilight mumbled, Belle having connected her once the Zoroark showed up. For all the planning they did, they hadn't exactly planned for what to do if their plan actually worked.

"_Catch him before he gets away!"_ Twilight decided. _"We're headed there right now,"_ She said before the connection cut.

"Uh... hello? Anyone home?" The Zoroark asked, waving a hand in front of Iris who had been ignoring him for the last couple of minutes.

"Works for me," Iris suddenly said.

"Huh?" the Zoroark cocked his head to the side, now very confused at the strange Haxorus. Before he could react, Iris lashed out, grabbed him, and held him in a vice grip. "Gah! What?!" he gasped. He'd been expecting a lot of things, but the Haxorus deliberately trying to catch him was not one of them.

"Gotcha!" Iris said, before frowning as she felt him struggle. "Hey! Quit struggling. I had to go through this ridiculous plan and act like a monster to get your attention and there is NO WAY I'm letting you go that easily!" she growled, tightening her grip to keep him from getting away. Too bad that since she was still not used to her new body, and since she was so focused on not letting her target go, she failed to realize her claws start glowing in what might have been her body interpreting her intention of not letting go as a command to execute a Guillotine attack.

"Help!" The Zoroark squeaked, breathing becoming problematic.

"_Let's go calm him down,"_ Belle said.

Just as the Gardevoir stepped out from her hiding place and began making her way towards Iris, another voice called out. "Dragon Pulse!" Iris had time to look up from the struggling Zoroark in time to see a beam of red energy shooting towards her.

"Crap!" The beam struck Iris dead center, just below where she was holding the Zoroark. Iris was knocked backwards, causing her to release her grip on the Dark-type.

Belle turned towards the source of the blast and saw a Lucario standing there, glaring at the downed Dragon, and a Mawile standing next to her, smiling. "Ten points!"

"Thanks for the save," The Zoroark said as he shakily got back to his feet and made his way over to them.

"Belle," Rainbow Dash whispered, hovering above her. "Is Iris ok?"

Belle did a quick check. "I think she's just stunned. She's not use to taking attacks like that."

"What do we do now?" Dash asked.

"What do we do with her?" The Mawile asked, gesturing towards Iris.

The Lucario shook her head. "She's not unconscious... yet."

The Zoroark shook his head. "I don't know. What's weird is that she said she was doing this JUST to get my attention...at least I think that's what she said, since I was trying not to pass out from being in a Guillotine attack."

"Want me to Play Rough with her a little?" The Mawile asked. "Then she should be too tired to fight."

At that point, everyone realized that Iris was probably about to get attacked again, and that she had no idea how to defend herself.

"_Mage,"_ Gene said. _"We have to keep them away from Iris so... just do what you do best."_

Mage poked her head out of her hiding spot and snickered.

"Maybe we should try to talk to her first... though I suppose we might want to tie her down first," As he said that, a length of rope slid from a nearby alley and wrapped around his legs, causing him to fall flat on his face. "Ow."

"Are you alright?" The Lucario asked.

"Yeah... don't know where the rope came from though," He snapped the rope with his claws and stood back up. "Did you two see anything?"

"No," The Mawile began. "But for a second I felt-" She was cut off as a plastic bag blew into her face. "What the heck?" She slapped the bag away.

The Lucario let out a little laugh. "I believe that karma is finally..." She paused for a second, then jumped back a few feet. A trash can clattered to the ground where she had just been standing... and it seemed to have fallen from the sky.

"... Is this part of town haunted?" The Zoroark asked, eyes darting back and forth.

As soon as he said this the Mawile and Lucario's eyes widened in realization. The Lucario closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, a faint blue could be seen emanating from both points. After a moment, she opened her eyes, leaned down, and whispered something in the Mawile's ear.

The Mawile nodded, stared at what appeared to be blank space, smiled, and said. "Crunch."

The Mawile sprang forward, jaw first, and snapped her maw shut.

"AAAAHHHHH!" A Mismagius slowly materialized in the Steel-types grip, squirming and trying to avoid the teeth.

"I should've guessed," The Lucario sighed.

"Mage!" The Pokémon turned to see another group on Pokémon, and a few ponies, helping the Haxorus to her feet.

And a Gallade running towards them.

"Gene!" Belle cried. "Get back here!"

"That's a lot of Pokémon," The Zoroark blinked in surprise.

"And looks like they're in cahoots with the one who attacked you," The Mawile said. She pulled her jaw around and looked at the shivering Mismagius. "I suppose you were trying to distract us huh?"

"Let her go!" Gene cried, closing in on the group of Pokémon.

The Mawile smiled and took off towards the Gallade. "What are you doing?!" The Zoroark shouted after her.

As the two Pokémon drew closer to each other, their eyes narrowed. Gene had a stern expression on his face, the Mawile still had a smile on hers. As the two finally met in the middle-

"Play Rough!" The Mawile drew her jaw back, then slammed it forward, connecting with the Gallade rushing towards her.

The Fairy-type whistled as she watched him fly through the air before landing several yards away, in a pile of trash left out for collection. "Gene!" Belle cried, rushing towards her mate.

The Mawile stop smiling as she felt something in her jaws heating up, like REALLY heating up, as in- "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! OW!" She opened her jaws and released the Mismagius, who, judging from the burns left in the Steel-types jaws, had the gall to use Will-O-Wisp right in her mouth!

Mage shuddered as she escaped the jaws of death and tried to escape unnoticed. She stopped when she bumped into something tall and furry. A paw grabbed Mage by the back of her neck, and the Mismagius found herself eye to eye with a VERY angry looking Lucario.

Mage smiled nervously. "Don't suppose you'd consider letting little 'ol me go, now would you?"

The Lucario shook her head.

"Didn't think so. Power Gem!"

Despite being woefully ineffective against the Lucario, the sudden flash emanating from Mage's necklace, as well as the force of the attack at close range, was enough to make the Lucario release her grip as she stumbled back. At which point Mage disappeared, just as the Lucario tripped over the trash can Mage had dropped earlier, landing head first against the ground.

The Zoroark rushed over to his fallen teammate, concern evident in his features. "You alright?" He asked, gently helping the Lucario to her feet.

"I'm fine," The Lucario said reassuringly, before they both turned towards the Mawile, who was nursing several burns in her various parts of her maw.

"Stupid Ghost!" She shouted.

Before either of her friends could move to comfort her, they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. The trio turned to see the Gardevoir standing not ten feet from them. "Hello," She greeted, her tone not at all friendly. "You just attacked my mate."

The Zoroark gulped and took a step back. He'd heard about how protective some Pokémon could get, and Gardevoir was one of the ones he'd heard you should NEVER piss off, especially by harming their mate, cause they've been known to go postal on the poor schmucks who did.

Belle opened her eyes and smiled. A smile that could freeze souls. "Shadow Ball!"

The Pokémon jumped out of the way as an orb of darkness was hurled towards them.

"Don't you run from me..." She smiled as the Zoroark came into her sights. "Moonblast!"

"Aura Sphere!" The Lucario's move intersected the beam before it hit, the resulting explosion formed a dust cloud which blocked Belle's view of the Pokémon.

"Where'd you go?" Belle asked, attempting to peer through the dust. Belle took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing her other senses. She heard whispering coming from behind her.

Belle smirked as the voices fell silent, she focused her telekinesis on the air around her, and lowered her arms.

The dust settled, and Belle turned around just in time to catch the Mawile who was flying towards her in a psychic grip. "Did you really think that would work?"

The Mawile smirked. "No, but this will. Metal Burst!" The force of the Mawile's attack blasted Belle backwards and rammed her into the wall of the building behind her.

The Mawile, free from her grasp, rushed over to her friends.

"Girls," The Zoroark said, keeping an eye on the Gardevoir. "I think it's time to get out of here."

The trio looked over the scene before them. The Gardevoir was slowly regaining her senses, the Gallade was attempting to get a garbage bag off his blade, the Haxorus was still trying to keep herself upright, the two ponies were trying to keep the Haxorus from falling over again... and the Hitmontop, Medicham, Plusle and Minun were walking towards them.

"Good idea," The Lucario agreed. She turned to the Zoroark. "If you would."

The Zoroark smiled, and in a flash of shadow, the three of them disappeared. Leaving the scene just as Twilight, Juniper, Lucario, and Korrina arrived.

Twilight surveyed the wreckage, and then turned to Belle, who was now upright once more. "What happened? Where's the Zoroark?"

Belle glared at Twilight. "Look around you Twilight, what do you _think_ happened here?"

Twilight laughed nervously. "Ok... anyone have another plan?" Everyone glared at her in response.

* * *

Princess Celestia once again sat locked in her room, Ninetales on her bed, keeping her company while playing with a ball of yarn she had found. Normally the Princess would've been smiling, as the Pokémon was acting positively adorable. But something had destroyed any chance of her being in a good mood. And once again, that something had come in the form of a letter.

_Dear Auntie Celestia,_

Reading that line, she knew the letter was from Cadence, and she figured it had something to due with the Pokémon, if the events of the past week were any indication.

_I'm certain you're facing your own share of problems regarding the recent turn of events, especially since this Arceus said he's set up shop in the Everfree,_

The Princess of Love had no idea just how right she was when she wrote that line.

_but I feel that it is of the utmost importance that you hear of the crisis facing the Crystal Empire._

That couldn't be good, if-

_King Sombra has returned._

When Celestia read that line, her blood turned to ice. Of all the things that could have gone wrong, this just had to happen now.

_And he has used the bodies of Pokémon he's possessed to attack the Empire, so far he's only attacked once in the form of a Pokémon known as a Genger. But I am mortified to tell you that in this attack, he has already taken the lives of several of my little ponies._

That wasn't good. If ponies were dead at the hooves, or hands, of what they thought was a Pokémon, then tensions between the two races would sky rocket as rumors circulated.

_I have hope that a former human known as John (now an Infernape) does not join the list of the departed, for he has become a good friend of mine._

So Cadence had a former human of her own helping here as well, once again Celestia wondered what was going to become of the transformed beings, since Arceus was holding true to his promise not to make them human.

_Tensions are running high all throughout the Empire and I don't know where else to turn. Shining Armor is doing his best to support me, but we need your help._

_~Cadence._

Celestia took a deep breath and put down the letter. This... this was very, very bad. With Nightmare Moon destroyed, Discord mostly reformed, and Chrysalis imprisoned, Sombra was the most dangerous NATIVE threat to Equestria.

And if he could somehow penetrate the barrier around the city in the body of a Pokémon... that was a big problem. Without the Crystal Heart's protection, the only way to defeat Sombra was to fight him head on, and Celestia did not wish to relive the battle she and Luna had had against him over a thousand years ago.

Unfortunately she didn't have many choices. The Elements were once again sealed in the Tree of Harmony, and Celestia didn't know if it would even be possible to remove them again yet. Perhaps, if she, Luna, and Discord were to team up, they could track down and defeat Sombra before he caused too much more damage, but there was the risk of Sombra being able to gravely injure one of them with his dark magic. That was bad, as given the current situation, Equestria needed its rulers in top shape...plus Celestia still didn't completely trust Discord in matters like this.

Then she considered what Arceus had said, how he could wipe beings from existence, as if they had never been... that would probably have far reaching consequences. But perhaps he could simply make Sombra go away, for good this time.

The Solar Princess knew Arceus had methods for disposing of beings such as these. If what he had told her about the Cofagrigus had been true, then the creature would never again bother anyone.

Celestia had to admit, the Pokémon did add a new dimension of possibilities, especially the Legendaries. "Tia..." Ninetales suddenly squeaked from the bed. Celestia looked over and had to choke back her laughter.

Ninetales' front paws were tied up in orange yarn, as was her muzzle, which she had managed to stick into the center of the mess and had gotten stuck. "Help."

Chuckling to herself, Celestia untied the Fox Pokémon. Then made her decision.

"The Pokémon are in danger here as well, he has the right to know," Celestia decided.

As Celestia made her way out the door, she was slightly amused to see that Ninetales was following her. This turned to annoyance when Aegislash, who had once again taken up post outside her door, followed her as well.

Celestia soon reached the door that led to the Hall of Legends. "Here we go again."

She pushed open the door and closed it behind herself and her two Pokémon. A few minutes passed before the other door opened and Arceus entered the room. _"Hello Princess,"_

"Lord Arceus," Celestia said back. She then realized that Ninetales was bowing, and, more surprisingly, Aegislash was not.

"_Rise little one,"_ Arceus said. Ninetales did just that, then retreated behind the Princess. _"A Ninetales and an Aegislash,"_ Arceus commented. _"Both quite fitting for a mare of your caliber."_

"Arceus, there is something I need to speak with you about." Celestia pulled the letter from Cadence out and floated it towards the God.

Arceus raised an eyebrow but accepted it. _"From your niece hmm? I should really pay her a vis-"_ The Alpha Pokémon stopped as he reached a line halfway down the page.

Sensing something bad was about to happen, Celestia raised a shield around herself and her Pokémon. Just in time for Arceus to erupt in a golden corona.

"_That vile beast was suppose to be naught but ash!"_ Arceus screamed. _"And now I find not only that he is alive, but that he hath possessed, demented, and tortured mine subjects!?"_

Celestia noted that when he was angry, Arceus seemed to slip into a more archaic form of speech. Just like Luna.

"_That cretin shan't see the light of another day! He shall be the first of this world to know the true wrath of a God!"_

"Arceus!" Celestia snapped. "Calm yourself." She looked back to Ninetales, who was hiding beneath her, paws covering her eyes, soft whimpers escaping her muzzle.

Seeing the Pokémon's fear, Arceus' corona of power faded back into his body. _"My deepest apologies Princess, young Ninetales."_ Arceus pieced the room back together, even putting the letter from Cadence back together again.

Celestia sighed, she prayed he wouldn't snap like that at the World Summit if one of the other rulers revealed something... unpleasant. "It's... I don't think it would be wise of you to simply... unmake Sombra. While he is a horrid stallion who never should have been born, his rule _did_ help to shape Equestria."

Arceus nodded. _"Don't worry, I won't erase him from existence. He's left too big a mark on history for that."_ The Alpha Pokémon's gaze hardened. _"But he will not see the light of another day."_

"Arceus," Celestia began. "You cannot just charge into the majority of northern Equestria, hunting for Sombra in whatever form he may be hiding, then attempt to destroy him."

Arceus chuckled. _"Princess, we've been over this, I most certainly CAN do all of that, it would be quite simple... probably."_

"That's besides the point," Celestia deadpanned. "Not only could you cause tremendous damage to... everything. It is simply not wise for you to attempt to personally take on every challenge that faces the world."

At this, Arceus looked confused. _"I'm fairly certain that, as a God, I can do whatever I feel needs to be done."_

Celestia glared at him. "And that attitude is precisely how we found ourselves in this situation, now isn't it?"

Arceus couldn't argue with that. As much as he hated to admit it, A LOT of the current issues could have been avoided if he hadn't been so gung-ho in executing his plan. Heck, even he had to admit that the integration of the Pokémon might have been easier if he had just taken a few extra days to contact the rulers of Equus before doing the transfer. _"Well what do you propose I do then? I will not stand by and let Sombra torment my subjects. No matter how much faith you have in your niece."_

"Nor would I expect you to," Celestia said. "But you said that your son, Giratina, is well versed in the dealings of darkness, shadows, and ghosts. And Sombra may count for all three."

Arceus had to admit, this did seem to fall well within his son's sphere of control. His or Darkrai's at least.

And there might even be a few Legendaries who could defeat Sombra without using powers similar to his own dark magic. If Sombra was truly corrupt to the soul, then the light of Xerneas or Cresselia would most likely destroy him.

"_Very well Princess, I shall consider sending another in my steed,"_ Arceus noticed that Celestia appeared as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Thank you Arceus, I assure you that you won't regret this decision." With that, Celestia and her Pokémon turned and left. Arceus sighed.

"_I wonder who's going to volunteer to destroy and eldritch being of darkness... perhaps I should describe him a different way when I ask around... then again, some of them might like that better... makes it sound more like a challenge..."_

* * *

"Ok, so I admit the didn't go exactly as planned," Twilight chuckled nervously, only to shut up when she got more glares in response.

"Gee... ya think?!" Iris glared. She was still sore from taking a Dragon Pulse to the chest.

"Well... to be fair, we didn't expect him to have help," Juniper commented, though she also flinched at the glares she got in response.

"That Mawile tried to eat me!" Mage whined for about the hundredth time.

"Would you stop!" Belle snapped. "They don't even eat through that mouth." Belle rubbed her jaw. "At least you didn't get a Metal Burst to the face."

Twilight sighed. "I know everyone's upset, and some of you are in pain."

"I think Gene's still in the shower. He STILL smells like two week old lunch," Pinkie commented.

"I just don't know what went wrong," Twilight said.

Juniper placed a hand on her friends shoulder. "Like I said, he had help. We had only planned for ONE Dark-type. Not a Dark-type, a Fighting/Steel-type and a Steel/Fairy-type... come to think of it, that's quite a lot of Steel-type Pokémon there. Kinda wish we had brought May or Blaziken along..."

Twilight's shoulders slumped. "I should've known he had help. The reports of where the Pokémon stopped acting up are too widespread for just one culprit."

"You had no way of knowing Twi," Dash said. "Don't beat yourself up."

Mage bit her lip to keep from saying something along the lines of 'Yeah, don't mind us. We'll just get beat up for you.'

"L-look, we're all tired, and I think it would be best if we regrouped in the morning. Maybe come up with a new, and better, plan." Everyone seemed to relax at the mention of sleep.

"Fine," Belle stood up and headed for her room. "Iris, you can use the spare bed in our room. Arceus knows Gene and I weren't."

Iris smiled and followed Belle into the room she, Belle, and Gene would be sharing.

"Where are you going?" Iris asked as Belle walked past the bed.

"To take a shower," Belle mumbled.

"Wait, isn't Gene still in there?" Iris asked.

Belle turned back to Iris and said. "He is. And?" Before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"Yeah, she already knew," Mage deadpanned.


	36. Chapter 33

High above Ponyville, higher than most Pegasi would soar, a Dragon flew. A rather small, green and red Dragon by the name of Draco, but a Dragon none the less.

The Flygon was riding the thermals, which were actually quite good for this late hour. It was almost seven, the sun was setting over the horizon, and Draco wanted to catch some of the last warming rays before he turned in for the night.

Watching the town below, Draco spotted Applejack's hatch-mate taking an empty cart back towards their farm. He also spotted the little non-Pokémon Dragon, Spike, closing up the library-tree.

Draco sighed. He could see the entirety of Ponyville from his vantage point. Though he couldn't see the true colors, his natural lenses which protected his eyes from sand whenever he flew in the desert also left the entire world tinted red.

But that wasn't what had him upset. He wished he could've gone with Gene, but his trainer turned Pokémon had told him that Princess Twilight wanted to not draw too much attention to their group. So Draco had stayed behind, promising Gene that he'd look after the town while they were away.

Draco glided to the ground below him, landing next to a large lake that had recently been refilled. "I suppose they're turning in for the night right about now," Draco guessed. Not guessing what his trainer was_actually_ up to.

Draco leaned his head down and took a sip from the lake. One thing he could appreciate about Equus was that there was next to no pollution. Sure, Earth had gotten a lot better in recent years, especially after the cataclysmic events following Lord Groudon and Lord Kyogre's awakening. But Equus just seemed so...pure.

As Draco began to consider heading back to Lady Rarity's, he heard a small splash from the center of the lake. Draco cocked his head and looked up to see ripples emanating from the center of the pond.

The Flygon smiled. "Probably just a Tympole or something," He told himself. Turning his back on the lake, he heard the sound again, but once he turned back, whatever it was had once again gone.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Odd little Pokémon, though I suppose it could be a local of some kind."

The Flygon spread his wings and began to lift himself off the ground. Then he once again heard the sound of something rising out of the water, accompanied by a soft whimper. The Mystic Pokémon whirled around in the air in time to see the top of a blue head disappear beneath the surface.

Grunting, the Flygon flew out over the lake and looked down where the ripples had gone, seeing nothing, he shook his head and flew off.

A blue and white head poked through the waters surface as he left.

* * *

Later that night, Draco lied awake in the front room. Lady Rarity had brought down all manner of pillows and blankets to make him comfortable, but inspite of that, something kept the Flygon awake.

Sighing, he pushed himself out from under the blankets and made his way to the front door. "Perhaps a quick flight will soothe me to sleep."

A few minutes later, Draco was once again in the skies above Ponyville. The night was actually rather warm, so he didn't need to worry that much.

Looking up at the star, Draco attempted to find on familiar to him. Aside from the North Star, none stood out. It was then that he heard it. A soft, cooing, mournful sound the echoed throughout the night.

Draco's antenne flicked, focusing in on the vibrations. "The lake," He said.

Making his way to the same lake from before, the song grew louder, and Draco could've sworn it sounded... familiar.

As Draco passed the treeline and got a clear view of the lake, he understood why. All manner of Pokémon, and even animals had gathered at the lake front. Pokémon such as Lotad and Goldeen stuck their heads above the water to get a clear earshot of the songstress.

In the center of the lake, rising out of the water in an almost hypnotic manner, a Dragonair floated, partially submerged, more and more of her slender body slowly rising from the lake.

Draco smiled, he slowed his wing beats until he was just remaining airborne, not wanting to interrupt the song.

The Dragon Pokémon continued her song until her body rose fully from the water, and she sat curled atop the waters surface. Her tail glowing bright blue, illuminating the clearing.

Then she stopped.

Turning her head, the Dragoness locked eyes with Draco, the Flygon smiled and flew out to meet her.

"Draco?" She asked shakily. "Is it really you?"

"River," Draco sighed. "I'm glad you're alright."

A grin spread across River's. "Draco!" She cried happily, flinging herself at her friend and wrapping around him. "I missed you."

River laid her head next Draco's and nuzzled him. "Where're Gene and the others? Did you find them? Are they ok?"

Draco laughed. "Counting you, we know where all but one of our little family is, and... I'll explain everything soon, I promise. There's a place nearby where a friend of Gene's is letting us stay. I'll tell you everything there, alright?"

River pouted, but agreed. And soon the two Dragons had taken off into the night. One of them hoping Lady Rarity wouldn't mind another house guest.

* * *

"I don't know... isn't there a saying, 'let sleeping Dragons lie'?"

"I'm pretty sure that's Beartic's."

"I thought it was 'don't poke the sleeping Ursa'."

Iris grumbled and cracked open an eyelid. She saw Rainbow Dash, Korrina, and Pinkie standing in front of her, all three of them smiling nervously. Pinkie waved.

The Haxorus rolled onto her back. Covering her face with a pillow to block the early morning sunlight. "What do you want?" She mumbled.

"Oh, Gene told us if we didn't wake you up, you'd sleep until noon," Pinkie answered with a smile.

Iris groaned. They were right though, the Unovan girl was NOT a morning person. Pulling herself from the nest she had made on the bed. "Coffee?" She asked.

"Next room. Everyone's waiting," Korrina replied.

Had Iris been a little more awake, she would have felt bad about that. Being as it were, she just wanted coffee.

Shifting to a quadrupedal gait, so as to avoid hitting her head on the doorframe, Iris made her way into the adjoining room. "Morning Iris," Twilight greeted. "How you feeling?" She still felt a little guilty for what had happened yesterday.

Iris mumbled something in reply, then went to pour herself a cup of coffee. Two things stopped her. "Professor, is this going to do anything weird to me now that I'm a Pokémon?"

Juniper shook her head. "I don't think so."

Iris looked down at the mug she was holding, then turned to the rest of the group. "Does anyone else want any?"

"Most of us had some already," Twilight answered.

Iris nodded. "Alright then." She grabbed the coffee pot, then made her way to the center of the room and curled up on the floor.

Twilight stared at her for a second, then shook her head. "Ok, let's get right to the point. That last plan failed. Miserably."

"That's an understatement," Mage snorted.

Twilight glared at the Ghost-type, but continued. "However, we can't let this one failure crush our spirits,"

"Wouldn't it be two, since we ran into this guy once before, and he got away?" Korrina commented.

Twilight ignored her comment and continued. "And since we're not giving up, that means that we need a new plan."

This elicited several groans from around the room, but true to form, Twilight didn't stop. "So, what did we learn yesterday that could help us now?"

"We learned he's not alone," Iris said, rubbing a sore spot on her chest. "And that his teammates are no pushovers."

"We know that he's either a former human, or the leader of a group of wild Pokémon," Belle stated. "The Mawile and Lucario obviously saw him as the leader, and they retreated once he suggested it."

"And we now know that even if we get him alone, the other two are likely somewhere nearby," Gene added. "And they're both protective of him, which kinda reinforces the idea that he's a former trainer."

Twilight nodded. "Good. Now, how can we use this to our advantage?"

For a moment, no one spoke. "Other than being prepared for them next time?" Mage snarked, before continuing. "This all seems to work against us."

"Don't think like that Mage," Twilight said. "There are plenty of ways we can use this. We could set a trap and... no we tried that. But this time we would know the other two are coming so... but it's not like he'd be stupid enough to fall for something like this a second time... and those two _are_ powerful..."

Twilight zoned out for a minute, then snapped back to reality. "Sorry about that, anyone have any _new_ideas?"

"Oh, oh! We should do a stake out!" Plusle suggested. "Like when you were trying to dig up dirt on that Pokémon Smuggler in Sinnoh," She said to her partner.

Solana smiled. "Just one problem with that. We don't know where to look for him."

Plusle's ears drooped. "Oh yeah..."

"We could set an _actual_ trap," Mage suggested. "Like a pit trap or something."

"I think we'd be more likely to catch an innocent pony with that," Twilight said. "Plus, we don't have any bait."

"Oh! I know," Pinkie pulled a flyer out of her mane. "Maybe they're-"

"We're not going to Vinyl's concert Pinkie," Twilight said.

"But Twilight! I heard from some ponies who already saw it that she _really_ improved her light show! It's all like. Pew, pew, pew, pew! Wooahaooa."

Twilight looked at her friend with concern. "Pinkie, have you been drinking coffee again? I thought you promised you'd only brew it."

Pinkie shook her head. "I'm serious! Vinyl must've learned some new illusionary spells or something. Everypony near the concert hall was talking about it!"

"That's where you went yesterday?" Rainbow asked. "No wonder we couldn't find you."

"Come on Pinkie," Twilight said. "You've seen Vinyl's shows before, and she probably doesn't have that much time to practice new spells."

"Nuh uh!" Pinkie defended. "The ponies said she was making waves of smoke that looked like little heads."

"Heads?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they said the mist was dark blue and these tiny purple heads were floating around in it."

"That sounds like a Gastly," Gene commented. "First form of Gengar, they're basically floating heads, a little too round to be human heads though, or Pony."

"And some other guys said that she had lightning flickering around the stage at one point!" Pinkie was jumping up and down with excitement. "And a mini tornado filled with mini-mini music notes,"

"Pinkie," Twilight tried to get her attention.

"And that near the end, there were these three bird things that flew around the stage, one was made of fire, one was made of lightning, and one was made of ice." Pinkie stopped and thought for a moment. "Actually, the way they described it, the ice one probably looked like Articuno."

"Arctic-who now?" Dash asked.

"No silly, Articuno. She was one of the Legendary Pokémon at my 'Welcome to Ponyville' extravaganza."

At this point, Juniper realized something. "Pinkie, did you say three birds? One of fire, ice, and lightning?"

"Uh huh, and it sounded really cool!" Pinkie answered.

"Sounds like the Legendary Birds to me," Solana added.

"What's... who are they?" Twilight asked.

"Articuno and her siblings, Moltres and Zapdos," Lunick answered. "They represent the forces of nature... or at least some of the forces of nature. They travel a lot, but mostly they're associated as the Legendaries of the Kanto Region and the Orange Islands."

Twilight tapped her chin. "So... Vinyl is putting up illusions of Pokémon?"

"Looks like it," Gene answered. "Why?"

"Well," Twilight began, trotting to the center of the room. "For starters, how does she even know about them? The Gastlys I kinda get... They're rather common Pokémon, right?"

"No Ghost-types are exactly common," Mage corrected. "But more people know about them compared to some other species."

Twilight nodded. "But that doesn't explain how she would know about Legendary Pokémon, let alone how she knows what they look like well enough to produce a somewhat realistic look alike."

"Maybe there's a Pokémon helping her," Juniper suggested. "A Psychic-type might be able to share images via psychic connection."

"Or maybe she has a Pokémon that makes illusions," Twilight said. The moment she said this, it felt like a little light bulb was switched on in their heads. "You don't think…"

"Does that mean?" Pinkie began.

"I think so Pinkie, this means that-"

"We get to go to Vinyl's concert!"

Twilight resisted the urge to facehoof. "N-... well, yes. But I meant that maybe Vinyl knows something about the Zoroark, or maybe she's _with_ the Zoroark."

"If that's true, then we need to get to the concert hall," Rainbow said.

"She's right," Twilight replied. Picking up the flyer with her magic, she read over the showtime schedule. "The next shows not until tonight."

"Does that mean we have time for breakfast?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight chuckled. "Sure Pinkie, come on." Twilight and the others made their way out of the room. But Iris stopped Twilight before the Alicorn could leave.

"We need to talk," Iris told Twilight.

"Everything alright Iris?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's just... I don't think I'm going with you guys this time," She said. "Pretty sure they'd see me the moment I set foot within a hundred feet of that place."

"Oh... I guess that does make sense," Twilight admitted.

Iris nodded. "Plus, I just went on a rampage and destroyed a city block,"

"It was mostly them, not you," Twilight countered.

"Either way, I think I'll just stay here, maybe go for a walk later on. One that keeps me far away from town hall."

Twilight laughed nervously. "Have I said I'm sorry for what happened yet?"

"About a dozen times," Iris answered. "And I forgive you. But seriously, taking me with this time would just ruin what little chances you guys have of catching these guys."

Twilight wanted to argue, but stopped herself. She felt guilty leaving Iris alone like this, but she had to admit that Iris was right.

"Hey Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called. "You coming?"

"We'd better go," Iris said. Twilight nodded and trotted towards the door. "And Twilight?" Twilight turned back to see the shiny Haxorus smiling. "Catch these guys for me, would ya?"

Twilight smiled. "You got it."

* * *

Rarity was having a lovely day. Sure she had been surprised to wake up to yet another Pokémon in her home, but River was such a sweetheart. And the Dragonair had inspired a few designs for the Pokémon line she was designing.

Now Rarity was enjoying a quiet lunch date with Keldeo, the Colt Pokémon telling her about his training with Cobalion and the other Swords of Justice, while Rarity told him about her and her friends various misadventures.

"So how often do you meet with the other Legendaries?" Rarity asked. "I assume having all of you in one place is rather... intimidating."

Keldeo chuckled. _"Actually, this is the first time that ALL of us have been assembled,"_ He took a sip if his water, thankful for the straw, and explained. _"Landorus use to tell me that when the older legends, the ones who'd been around before Arceus was imprisoned, use to meet in the Hall of Legends, Arceus was the only reason they all showed up."_

"Really?" Rarity asked. "I thought you were all family."

"_Yeah,"_ Keldeo said with a sigh. _"But some of them are like estranged cousins or annoying uncles to each other, plus some of them are literally each other polar opposites."_

"Family reunions can get hectic," Rarity agreed. "Mine usually gets together around Hearth's Warming but as troublesome as it can be to set up it's always worth it to see everyone together."

Keldeo smiled. _"True, but some of the other Legendaries, Yveltal for example, just aren't very social, and Groudon and Kyogre haven't ever gone even ONE meeting without challenging each other to a battle. Doesn't help they insist on keeping score...and they're roughly tied, though Kyogre has the SLIGHT advantage right now."_

Rarity chuckled. "That does sound rather hectic. How have the other Legendaries been adjusting anyway?"

Keldeo shrugged. _"Some of them, in fact most of them, are quite taken with this new world. Others... well, Rayquaza is just tired of being cooped up, Yveltal and Kyurem haven't left their rooms, and I can't figure out how the Regi's feel about... anything. Come to think of it, I wonder if they even CAN feel, considering they are well...golems."_

"Golems?" Rarity asked in curiosity.

"_No one's been around them much, since they've kinda been sealed away since Arceus was imprisoned, but they haven't actually SAID anything this entire time so... maybe I'll ask Regigigas about them."_ Keldeo figured he should at least make an effort to learn about his extended family.

The two returned to their meals, occasionally asking a question or two. "So how's the Pokémon fashion thing going?" Rarity had told him about her little project at Pinkie's party.

Rarity's eyes lit up. "Oh it's wonderful, I'm starting off with outfits inspired _by_ Pokémon, so many unique designs. I'm certain they'll be a hit... at least once things calm down a bit." Rarity developed a worried expression. "Tell me, do you know what Arceus is planning?"

Keldeo shook his head. _"He hasn't said anything yet, though he's met with Celestia a few times. And yesterday he was asking for help from some of the... darker, Legendaries. I think he even went to Yveltal,"_ He visibly shuddered at that, wondering what could have been so bad that Arceus would go to the member of the Mortality Duo who represented Death itself.

Rarity noticed his reaction. "Something wrong? You seem worried."

Keldeo forced a smile. _"Nah, just wondering what Arceus needed help with."_

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Well then, who is this... Yveltal, you've mentioned him quite a bit."

Keldeo laughed nervously. _"He's the other half of the Mortality Duo. You met Xerneas at the party didn't you?"_

Rarity's eyes lit up once more. "Indeed I did, are those actual gems in her antlers, or are they just for show?"

"_They're part of her antlers, and I don't think they come off."_ He noted Rarity's slight disappointment._"Like I said, Yveltal is the other half of the Mortality Duo, and whereas Xerneas represents life..."_

The shock in Rarity's eyes was enough to tell she had made the connection. The fact that some of the color drained from her face just cemented it. "Oh my... you're saying that Yveltal is..."

"_The physical representation of death?"_ Keldeo asked. _"Pretty much."_

Rarity stared at Keldeo in disbelief. "So you're saying there's a being who, in essence, is the embodiment of death, and he's no more than a days walk away?"

"_Well, when you put it that way..."_ Rarity looked nervous, and possibly scared. _"Look, Yveltal isn't inherently a bad guy. He's definitely not the nicest Pokémon you'll meet, but it's not like he's going to fly here and kill anyone just for the heck of it. That's not what the Legendaries were created for. Heck, I was always told that our role is to help maintain the balance. That's why each group of legendaries usually have members who are opposites of one another. To balance each other out, and in the Mortality Duos' case, its life and death."_

Rarity visibly relaxed. "You're right darling. Can't judge a book by it's cover." She was still unsure, but if Discord was getting a second chance then Yveltal at least deserved a chance before they judged him.

The pair chatted for a while longer, then Rarity excused herself, saying she had to finish up an outfit for a client up in Canterlot. The two said their goodbyes and promised to get together again soon. "Until next time Keldeo."

"_See you then Rarity,"_ Keldeo said with a bow. The Colt Pokémon turned and made his way back towards the Everfree and the temple deep within. _"Looking forward to it."_

* * *

Twilight looked at the concert hall, watching the various ponies heading in. "Alright, we need to go over our plan." She looked to her assembled friends. "I'll take a group and try to get in through the front. I need a volunteer to stand guard and make sure he doesn't get out that way."

Mage smirked. "That sounds great, see you inside." The Mismagius disappeared, chuckling as she flew towards the building.

Yeah, I knew she'd do that," Gene rubbed his eyes. "So, who's going to check out the back exit?"

"I'll go," Korrina volunteered. "Not sure how much good I'd do inside."

"I'll go as well," Lucario added immediately.

"We'll go with them," Solana and Lunick stepped forward. "We have experince with this kind of thing."

"You guys have missions like this a lot?" Gene asked.

Solana and Lunick looked at each other, thinking about the events that had led to their Top Ranger status, and the rock band those missions involved. "Yeah, let's go with that."

"Dash," Twilight said. "Could you go with them? Just in case they need a pony for something?"

"Sure thing Twilight, you guys just be careful in there." Rainbow said with a smirk. "And Pinkie? Try to stay focused."

After going over the plan once more, the groups separated. Korrina leading her group behind the building. "Now, where's the exit?" Korrina asked, looking around.

"Be on the lookout for guards," Lunick warned. "These places always have guards."

Lucario rolled his eyes. "We're in a back alley, wouldn't the bouncers be out front?"

"Not always," A voice replied. The group turned and saw another Lucario and a Mawile standing in front of the back exit.

"It's them," Solana whispered. "They're the ones who attacked us near town hall."

"We attacked you?" The Mawile asked. "Your Dragon was the one who attacked our friend first, and with a Guillotine too."

"Enough talk," The Lucario said, her tone cold. "Either leave now, or we will make you leave."

Korrina was about to say something, but Lucario stopped her. "We are not leaving," He answered.

The other Lucario sighed. "So be it," A glowing blue club of aura appeared in her paws. "Bone Rush!"

Lucario jumped forward and intercepted her attack with a Bone Rush of his own. The two struggled against each others strength for a moment before they broke away. However, upon landing, Lucario immediately dismissed his Bone Rush, before dashing forward, his right paw glowing brightly. "Power-Up Punch!" he called out, before punching the other Lucario right in her chest, sending her skidding back while knocking the wind out of her, though she quickly shook it off.

"Not bad," Lucario admitted as a red aura glowed around him briefly, the second effect of Power-Up Punch raising his physical strength temporarily. "Though I wouldn't have started out with such a head on attack. As you just learned, that leaves you open to a counter attack."

The other Lucario glared at him as she rubbed the spot he had punched her, before smirking. "You're not bad yourself. But if that's all you've got, you don't stand a chance against me."

"We'll see about that," Lucario smirked. "Swords Dance," he calmly said, as ethereal swords suddenly surrounded him, raising his power again. "Bone Rush!"

Lucario shot forward, another Bone Rush in his paws. Acting quickly, the other Lucario countered with her own Bone Rush. However, instead of a repeat of their previous clash, Lucario's Bone Rush struck her Bone Rush, and promptly broke it.

The female Lucario gritted her teeth, before quickly going into a defensive stance, just as she was struck by the attack. "Metal Sound!" she declared as she was struck multiple times. Her attack managed to break Lucario's concentration enough to interrupt his Bone Rush and force him to jump back to get away from the noise, but not before he managed to strike her three times. Digging her feet into the ground, she managed to avoid getting knocked away, and when Lucario jumped away, she quickly brought her paws together, forming a ball of energy, aiming it at her still disoriented opponent.

Korrina's eyes widened when she saw what the other Lucario was about to do. "Lucario, look out! Its a Focus Blast!"

The other Lucario glared at her in annoyance. This was a battle between the two of them. She had no right in interfering. Either way, she fired the Focus Blast, just as her opponent regained his senses thanks to the warning. However, by that time it was too late to dodge, so instead he planted his feet and braced himself while using his arms to protect himself. The attack impacted hard, and due to his weakened Special Defense, it hurt more than it normally would have. Despite that, he managed to endure it, though he fell to a knee after the attack ended. Looking up, he noticed that his opponent had also fallen to her knee, the damage from his earlier attacks quickly catching up to her.

Seeing the state they were in, their friends were about to jump in to help, but both of them raised a paw, signalling their friends to not interfere. One glance shared between them was enough to tell what each other was thinking. This was a battle between the two of them, with both of their prides on the line.

Getting back on his feet, Lucario shot forward. "Low Sweep!" he declared, and attempted to knock her feet out from under her.

However, she saw the attack coming, and pushing her tired muscles, jumped into the air. "Rock Smash!" The female Lucario came down hard, slamming her fists into Lucario's back, causing him to slam into the ground.

"Lucario!" Korrina called out in worry. The quick glance he had given them earlier was enough to get the point across, but it didn't stop her from worrying, or wanting to help him, unfamiliar Pokémon body be damned.

"Korrina, stay back!" Lucario shouted, pulling himself back onto his feet. He didn't think that Korrina would actually jump in, since she knew him enough to know that he wanted to fight this battle one-on-one. However, he wasn't taking any chances, and if Korrina tried to intervene she might end up getting caught in the middle of the battle, and with her still being unfamiliar with her new body, AND weak to the attacks they were throwing around...he didn't want to think about what might happen.

The female Lucario forced a confident smirk on her face, despite the fact that she had taken quite a bit of damage too. However, when she heard what her opponent had called the other female Lucario, her eyes widened in shock. "Korrina? As in, the Gym Leader of Shalour City Gym?"

"That's right," Korrina answered. "And you are?"

The Lucario didn't answered. Instead she just got into a stance. "I won't let you get him."

Korrina took a step back, confusion filling her expression. "Get who? I don't know what you mean." The Lucario didn't answer, instead she advanced on the Gym Leader.

"Whoa there!" Solana stepped between the two. "Everyone just calm down."

The Mawile, who'd been standing on the side, apprehensively watching as her stubborn friend was taking and dishing out punishment, looked at the Medicham and noticed Solana's headband. "Rangers..." She whispered, before a cold feeling settled in her gut at the implications.

Overhearing what she said, Lunick turned towards the Steel-type. "Oh..."

"They're Rangers!" The Mawile warned, her eyes wide with panic. Gym Leaders aside, she KNEW what Rangers felt about a certain subject, and if these two found out about her friends...

The Lucario's eyes widened as she realized the implications as well. However, she quickly got over her shock as her expression steeled. The stakes just got higher, and she'd be damned before she lost a battle this important. With that thought, her aura began to flare brightly, before a blue orb started to form in her paws.

Seeing this, Lucario jumped into action.

"Aura..."

"Sphere!"

The Lucarios each launched their signature move at each other, the attacks met in the middle, the two attacks fighting for dominance, before a large explosion happened, covering the battle field in a thick cloud of smoke and dust. However, this did nothing to deter the two combatants, as they reached out with their Aura Sense. Locating their opponent, they charged at each other, matching each other blow for blow…

* * *

Meanwhile, Twilight, Pinkie, Gene, Belle, and Juniper carefully made their way through the crowd of ponies. By a stroke of luck, they had managed to purchase the last five tickets for the show. "Wowie! It sure was lucky that we got the last tickets!" Pinkie grinned, bouncing along.

"Do you think she even remembers we're supposed to be looking for the Zoroark?" Gene muttered with a deadpan expression.

"I really don't know," Twilight sighed, once again resisting the urge to facehoof.

Of the ponies, and Pokémon present, only one had ever been to concert before, so none of them had known what to expect once they got inside. What they hadn't expected was something that seemed more akin to how a rave was usually described.

"It's so loud in here," Twilight noted. "And the show hasn't even started."

"Don't worry," Belle said. "I'll set up a psychic connection once we figure out how we're going to do this."

Twilight nodded and looked around the sea of ponies. Vinyl had yet to emerge from backstage so the crowd wasn't as packed as it was likely to get once she started to perform. "Alright, we're going to have to split up. Pinkie I... Pinkie!"

The Earth Pony had struck up a conversation with another concert goer, probably about how awesome-tacular the show was going to be.

"Sorry Twilight, I was just talking about how awesome-tacular the show's going to be! I'm so excited!" Pinkie was bouncing like so fast it looked like she wasn't touching the ground.

"Pinkie, remember why we're here," Twilight said. "The Zoroark?"

Pinkie looked at her in confusion for a moment, then laughed. "Of course I remember silly, I was asking around to see if anypony had seen a giant shadow fox."

Twilight actually did facehoof this time. "Pinkie! We're trying to be discreet, you can't go telling everypony why we're here."

Pinkie's eyes widened. "Oooohhh, so we're being all secret like on this mission, got'cha." Pinkie sunk down and tiptoed out of view.

"Should we go after her?" Gene asked.

Twilight thought for a moment, on one hoof, it would be better if they all knew what the others were doing, on the other, it was Pinkie... "You have that psychic thing set up?" Twilight asked.

Belle nodded. She had set up the link once Pinkie snuck away.

"Then don't bother. If she's playing Pinkie Spy then she might actually find something."

Gene and Belle had to hold back their laughter over Pinkie's newly given title. "So what's the plan?" Gene asked.

Twilight sighed. "For now just spread out, see if you can spot anything that seems... off."

Just as Twilight finished off her instructions, the lights dimmed and a cheer went up from the assembled ponies. _"Here we go,"_ Belle said.

The three split up. _"If you find Mage, tell her to check backstage,"_ Twilight said.

After a few minutes, Vinyl came out and gave an introduction, smiled and said she was happy to see a few Pokémon in the audience, then said she was going to start off with something a little different tonight.

(Play me! watch?v=Eh-pIjfRk1M)

As the music started, so too did the illusions.

"_Vinyl's right,"_ Pinkie said. _"This isn't the kind of show she'd normally start out with- Ooh, something floaty!"_

Twilight sighed, and was going to try to get Pinkie back on track, when she realized just what she was talking about. _"Whoa."_ Was all she could say

Several medium sized balls of water were floating around the room, and in them were what Twilight assumed to be Water-type Pokémon. _"Gorebyss, Huntail, Seel, Goldeen,"_ Gene listed off a few of the ones he spotted.

"_This is seriously complex if it's magic,"_ Twilight said, watching as a school of pink fish-like Pokémon shaped like hearts did an underwater dance in one of the orbs, though she jumped back when it was interrupted as a Manta Ray like creature swam through the school. _"I'm not sure if Vinyl Scratch is even capable of supporting an illusion this complex."_

Twilight hadn't talked to Vinyl that often, but she had gotten into a conversation with the mare at her brothers wedding. Turns out Vinyl had almost gone to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns but chose to attend a performing arts academy instead.

"_Well, even if she is, she has to be getting help from somewhere,"_ Gene said. _"See the big pink fish?"_Twilight searched a little and spotted the Pokémon Gene mentioned. _"That's an Alomomola. They don't like being near cities, so unless Arceus dropped one in a lake, then someone else showed her what these Pokémon look like."_

The group continued their search, as they did, Twilight realized something, the Pokémon weren't confined to one orb, and while some did jump from one to the other, they more often swam between them, like windows into a very large aquarium. _"How do Zoroark illusions work?"_ Twilight asked.

"_No one really knows,"_ Juniper replied. _"There aren't that many willing test subjects and the results from the few studies that have been done have been inconclusive."_

As the song neared its climax, Gene started to notice something, actually two somethings in the bubbles. One was a blurry shadow just out of view, the other was a blue streak that moved from one bubble to another too quickly to be made out.

Just as the song hit a low note, the blue blur shot off into the distance, and towards the shadow. After a moment, Gene realized the shadow was getting large, more accurately, it was getting closer.

_\"Guys, watch the orbs, something's happening."_ Soon, everyone's attention was on the approaching figure. This soon included everyone in room as the Water Pokémon scattered in its wake.

The figure approached the bubbles at an alarming rate. _"What is it?"_ Twilight asked.

"_I think it's-"_ Juniper answer was cut off as whatever it was swam right up to the spheres, causing them all to burst in a shower of water.

As the resulting mist cleared, everyone stared in shock and awe at what the figure revealed itself to be. Or themselves, as it actually was.

"_Kyogre,"_ Belle said. _"And Manaphy."_

The two Legendary Pokémon seemed to examine the ponies for a moment before returning to the underwater ballet, the various Pokémon now swimming and dancing around them. The multiple orbs now one enormous one in the center of the room.

As the song reached its end, some of the other Water Pokémon had returned, before they began swimming around the two Legendaries forming a living helix. As the Pokémon slowly stopped moving, Manaphy's antenna glowed red, the light soon covering the entire bubble, causing the orb to burst and once again shower the ponies below with illusionary water.

(end music)

For a moment, the room was silent, then the applause started. _"That was..."_ Twilight failed to find the right words.

Fortunately, Pinkie was there to help. _"That was so super-duper amazing-tacular! All the Pokémon were dancing! I didn't even know you could dance underwater!"_ Pinkie continued to rant about the awesomeness of the performance.

"_I'm guessing from your reactions that those were Legendaries?"_ Twilight asked.

"_Kyogre and Manaphy,"_ Juniper repeated. _"The two Legendaries supposedly tasked with upholding the balance of the worlds oceans."_

Twilight thought for a second, weighing what she had just seen with what she knew already. _"Alright, it's settled,"_ She decided. _"Vinyl had help with those illusion. I wouldn't be able to do something like that unless I studied for weeks, and I'm one of the most magically gifted Unicorns on the planet."_

"_Alright, so we know someone's helping her, and telling her about Pokémon that she has no real way of knowing about on her own,"_ Juniper said. _"Unfortunately, I doubt they'll be out here. So we need to check backstage."_

"_I have an idea,"_ Belle said. _"I can use my powers to check backstage, while I can't very well probe a Dark-types mind, at least not without express permission, I should be able to sense if one's back there."_

"_Go for it. Gene? See if you can find Mage."_

As the next song started, Belle expanded her mind towards the stage. Ignoring the ponies in the crowd and the DJ, she began to search backstage.

She sensed a lot of stage ponies, a few Zubat's in the rafters, and a Klink that seemed to be accompanying one of the ponies who worked on the speaker system.

Belle almost gave up on the endeavour, until she sensed a blank spot in the rafters just above the stage._"I've got something,"_ She said. _"Have you found Mage yet?"_

"_Not yet... do you think you could find her?"_

Belle turned her attention from the rafters to the crowd and soon enough, found a familiar mind floating above the heads of the ponies... bopping her head in time with the music. _"Mage!"_ Belle shouted, startling the Ghost-type.

"_Yahh! Oh, hi Belle, what's up?"_

"_What have you been... actually, that doesn't matter, I need you to check something,"_ Belle pointed Mage to the spot she had found the Zoroark in.

"_Well, I'm here and I'm not finding anything."_ Mage said.

Belle groaned. _"He must've moved."_

The rest of the show was spent in a futile attempt to locate the Zoroark, but he was either moving around to avoid being found, or he had managed to hide the space left by his mind to Belle's senses... or he left.

At the end of the show, everyone regrouped while the rest of the ponies filed out of the building. "Well, that didn't work either," Twilight sighed.

Pinkie wasn't letting this ruin her mood. "Don't give up just yet, if we hurry maybe we can catch Vinyl when she leaves."

The six rushed outside and pushed to the front of the crowd around the door where Vinyl was supposed to exit. It was there they waited, hoping to talk to her about the Zoroark... and they waited... and waited... and waited. "Hang on a minute." Mage floated past the rope holding back the crowd, through a very startled bouncer, and through the door.

A few minutes later, a perturbed looking Mage floated back out. "Yeah, she's not in there. Either she went out another way, or whatever did that illusion thing got her past us."

Twilight eye twitched, the stressed out Alicorn turned around and marched her way out of the crowd. Once she was clear, she threw her hooves in the air and shouted into the night sky. "Why are they always one step ahead of me?!"

Juniper patted Twilight on the shoulder. "Don't worry Twilight, we'll figure this out."

Twilight took a deep breath and sat up. "You're right... hey, we haven't checked in on Korrina and the others yet. I wonder how they're doing?"

* * *

Earlier, during the show...

"Raaaaggghhh!" The two Lucarios roared, before they promptly slammed their respective paws into the side of each others muzzle. The force of the blows, added by their own natural weakness to Fighting-type moves, sent both of them tumbling back, before staggering to their feet. The cloud that their clashing Aura Spheres had caused had dissipated by now, revealing both Lucarios battered and bruised from their unseen battle. Clearly both of them were dangerously close to the point of exhaustion, evident by the heavy breathing and unsteady stances.

_I...I have to end this soon. I can't let them catch him…_ the female Lucario thought, her vision starting to get blurry as pain and exhaustion started to catch up to her. Despite that, she pushed through, the belief that the one she cared for was in danger giving her strength to keep fighting. With that in mind, she decided to put everything she had into the next few attacks, as she had a feeling that despite how exhausted her opponent was, he wasn't about to go down without a fight. _Calm Mind,_ she thought.

On his side, Lucario was also on the brink of passing out. This Lucario was good. Heck, if he didn't know better, he would have guessed he was fighting another Gym Leader Pokémon, with how tough this Lucario was. However, the only other Gym Leader who was known to own a Lucario was Maylene, the Gym Leader of Veilstone City in Sinnoh, and he was pretty sure this Lucario wasn't that one, as not only was this Lucario female, but the Mawile with her shot down the idea that she was from the Veilstone Gym, since Mawile weren't Fighting-types, and these two were CLEARLY a team. Any further musing was stopped when he noticed her forming another Aura Sphere, acting quickly, he moved to counter with another one of his own.

"Aura…" Both of them glared at each other, their expressions full of determination.

"SPHERE!" They both roared as they pumped in as much of their energy as they could afford at the moment into their attacks. Once again, the two attacks clashed, both fighting for dominance. However, the female Lucario's Aura Sphere began overpowering Lucario's Aura Sphere, before breaking through.

Lucario's eyes widened just before the attack hit him, throwing him backwards and slamming him against a wall, his vision swimming as he fell to the ground.

The Aura Pokémon groaned as he pushed himself up. That last attack had really hurt, and considering his already exhausted state, it was a miracle he hadn't already collapsed. He didn't have the strength to either make or take another hit like that, but he wasn't about to go down that easily. "Time to try a different plan of attack... Metal Claw!"

Lucario jumped forward, taking advantage of the fact that his opponent was also quite exhausted from launching her last attack, and raked his claws across her chest while her guard was down.

"Gahh!" she cried out, as despite her resistance to the Steel-type attack, she was weakened enough that it hurt as much as a regular attack would. Despite that, she managed to stand her ground and even force another confident smirk.

"Nice try," She said, though the words didn't come out easily. "But...you're not getting through...me! Dragon Pulse!" she said, her body straining as she launched the attack. She had to end this soon. She couldn't take much more.

Lucario saw the attack coming, but he couldn't dodge it. He was too tired for that. "Iron Defense!" he called out, trying to protect himself as much as possible.

Lucario endured the attack, though he was mentally screaming in pain by now as he forced his body to endure the attack. When the attack ended, both Lucarios fell to their knee again.

The Mawile was REALLY looking worried now, and had to almost physically restrain herself from jumping in to help one of her best friends. She knew that all she could really do right now was have faith...and pray to Arceus for her friend's immediate health.

Korrina on the other hand, was nearly trembling at this point. As a Gym Leader, she and Lucario had been in countless battles, both ones they won and ones they lost. But none of them were like this. Having been with Lucario for years, she could tell that he was beyond exhausted at this point, yet he was still pushing himself. "Lucario! That's enough! You don't have to go through with this! It isn't worth going this far!" She pleaded. She hated it when Pokémon got really hurt whenever a battle was taken too far, and she could clearly see now that this battle had gone beyond that point. Unfortunately, her pleas fell on deaf ears.

The two Lucarios glared at each other, knowing they were at their limit, yet not willing to back down. Going into a stance one more time, both of them prepared to end this battle. "Close Combat!"

The Lucarios shot forward at each other so fast that for a moment their forms blurred as they closed the distance between each other in a matter of seconds. "RAAHHH!"

The attacks collided and the shock wave threw up a cloud of dust, concealing the Pokémon for a few second. "Lucario!?" Korrina called out, now very afraid for her dear friend. Close Combat was easily one of the strongest Fighting-type moves, and unlike Focus Blast, it had a VERY high accuracy rate. That, added with the consideration of the state both fighters were in...they'd have to end the match now, or this battle might become one that is to the death.

As the dust settled, the Pokémon saw both Lucario, still standing. Korrina smiled, relief starting to fill her heart.

Then Lucario's knees gave out and he fell to the ground. "Lucario!" Korrina rushed forward and kneeled next to her partner. Lifting his head onto her lap, she looked down at him, worry in her eyes. "Hang in there! Lucario!" She shouted frantically upon seeing the state he was in. His normally pristine fur was filthy from all the dust that had been kicked up in the fight, his body was covered in bruises from the various attacks he had endured, and his breathing was shallow.

Lucario groaned, trying to focus on her, but his vision was getting blurrier by the second. "K-Korrina..." He mumbled, before his vision went black.

"Lucario! Wake up! Please!" Korrina shouted frantically, before turning to Lunick and Solana. "That's it, we're getting out of here now!"

Both of them nodded in agreement, before helping the Gym Leader heft her partner onto her back, before they beat a hasty retreat.

As the group fled, The Mawile quickly ran to the other Lucario's side, a worried look on her face. The Lucario gave her a reassuring smile, before she too collapsed and fell into blissful unconsciousness as her body finally gave out.


	37. Chapter 34

In a darkened room in one of the apartments of Manehattan, a Zoroark let out a sigh as he tiredly sat down. He soon found his gaze once again lingering on the unconscious form of a Lucario in the nearby bed, her battered and bruised body covered in bandages. "Elena…" he murmured, his voice heavy with worry as he remembered what had happened earlier.

* * *

(Flashback)

It had been a great night, just like pretty much every night Vinyl asked him to help her with her shows. After Vinyl and Octavia had let them stay with them, and even hired them as 'bouncers' of sorts, and after Arceus' announcement of what he had done, which he personally felt had been a poorly thought out plan, even if he wasn't complaining, life had gotten into a comfortable rhythm. Whenever a Pokémon went on a rampage, or was generally causing trouble, they would go and calm it down, talk to it, and if possible, get it to leave, which they had managed with a flock of Skarmory, a herd of Gyarados, and a Tangrowth in Central Park. On nights, or days, when Vinyl or Octavia had a concert or recital, they would act as escorts/bouncers, and for Vinyl's shows, he would help her using his new abilities as a Zoroark to cast illusions. Many of which he had thought up based on his experiences back on Earth.

So far this night had been the same. After finishing the show, he had slunk backstage waiting for Vinyl. Once she got to the back, he put an illusion around them, allowing them to sneak out of Concert Hall unseen. As they moved unseen, he idly thought he heard someone in the distance shout something along the lines of 'How are they always one step ahead of me?!', but he shrugged it off. From there, they would go to the spot where they would meet up with his Lucario, Elena and his Mawile, Terra.

"Niiick!" Came Terra's panicked shout, just as they approached the spot.

When Nick heard her, he felt worried, Terra was usually quite carefree, so for something to have her so shaken up... it HAD to be important, and Vinyl agreed, as she also picked up the pace. As the two of them got close, Terra came out of the alleyway, dragging Elena's unconscious form with her.

"What happened?" Vinyl gasped, her usual attitude vanishing at the sight of the unconscious Lucario. Nick however…

"Elena! Speak to me!" He frantically cried as he moved so fast, it almost looked as if he had teleported to her side, and was now cradling his unconscious friend.

Elena groaned, before she opened her eyes slowly. Upon seeing him, a soft smile appeared on her features, before she fell back into unconsciousness.

"We've gotta get help. Fast!" Nick frantically said, and for the first time he realized the one thing this world didn't have that they really needed right now. Pokémon Centers.

"We've got some first aid kits back at our apartment. Its not much, but its better than nothing. Let's hurry!" Vinyl said, earning nods in response.

After a mad dash to Vinyl and Octavia's apartment, and one hasty explanation/apology to Octavia after they accidentally crushed with the front door on their mad dash inside, they had quickly went to work treating her wounds, and once again Nick found himself appalled by the sheer extent of the beating she had taken. He'd be sure to ask Terra what had happened, but not now. Right now all he cared about was making sure Elena got the attention she needed.

(End Flashback)

* * *

"How's Ellie doing?" Terra's asked as she quietly walked into the room.

He looked at her for a moment, before sighing. "Terra," he stated, getting her attention instantly. "How... how did this happen?" he questioned, his voice uncharacteristically devoid of emotion.

Terra gulped, for some reason nervous at the way he spoke. "Well…" she started, before retelling what happened. When she was done, Nick just sat back in his chair, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Why…?" he sighed. "Why are they so hell bent on going after us? We haven't been causing any problems. Haven't hurt anyone. Heck, I didn't even do anything to get on the Rangers' bad side back on Earth, so why?" he sighed, though he mentally added, _"Not counting that time a few days ago when me and Elena were in the park...which we must NEVER let Terra know about, even if all we did was talk and hold paws. How unlucky can we get that the frikkin HEAD of the Ranger Union was nearby when Elena happened to lean on me. And seriously, why is he so gung-ho on laws that don't even apply anymore, since we're all Pokémon now?"_ he mentally sighed, before leaning back in his seat.

"Can we help in anyway?" came Octavia's voice, as she and Vinyl had entered the room just in time to hear Nick's tired questioning, even if all they heard was, "Zor Zoroark Zoro? Zoroark Zo. Zoro Zor Zoroark?"

Nick looked at them for a moment, before getting out of the chair. In a swirl of shadows, he emerged in his Pony disguise of a red maned, black coated Earth Pony. He then explained what Terra had told him. When he was done, both mares could only shake their heads in sympathy.

"Damn...that sucks," Was all Vinyl could say.

"I agree. How could anyone be so uncaring…" Octavia nodded, the two of them sharing a glance as they wondered how they could help their friends. That's when an idea popped into Vinyl's head.

"Hey Tavi. You don't have anymore recitals coming up, right?"

"Er... no. Why do you ask?"

"Good, cause I don't have any concerts either, so how about we take a... vacation for a while," Vinyl suggested, her eyes gesturing towards the three Pokémon.

Octavia blinked, before she realized what Vinyl was suggesting. "That's a wonderful idea, Vinyl," she smiled. "We can take a 'vacation' for a while, and at the same time, we can get them out of Manehattan...at least until things calm down."

At this, both Nick and Terra couldn't help but smile warmly. "Thank you," Nick said, and though they were simple words, the two mares could feel the gratitude they held.

"Don't mention it. After All, what are friends for," Vinyl grinned as she put a hoof over Nick's shoulder. "Now come on, you two look like you could use something nice to cheer you up."

As the four of them walked out of the room, Nick stayed behind and gave Elena one more glance. Seeing as she was still unconscious, he was about to leave the room as well, when he heard a soft groan. "Elena?" he asked, quickly moving to her side, his illusion fading away as he moved. True enough, the Lucario stirred, before her eyes opened slightly.

Elena waited as her vision slowly became clearer, and the first thing she saw was Nick's concerned face. "N-Nick?" She said, still very weak from her battle. Despite that, she tried to get up, but Nick stopped her.

"Easy there. You're still in pretty bad shape," He said, his expression becoming a warm smile as he eased her back down. "Terra told me what happened. Don't worry, Vinyl and Octavia are planning on getting us out of the city for a while, so we won't have to worry about those Rangers or Gym Leaders chasing us again."

"That's good…" Elena sighed, her features visibly relaxing, before she noticed something. Looking down, she realized that her left paw was in Nick's paw, as he had grabbed it when he had eased her back down. Seeing where she was looking, Nick noticed this too, and a small blush appeared on both their muzzles, before he quickly let her paw go.

"Y-you should probably get some rest. You've earned it," Nick quickly said, to which she just nodded in reply, before she closed her eyes and quickly drifted back to sleep. Despite that, Nick didn't leave her side. He then grabbed another chair and sat down next to her, keeping watch over his dear friend.

Back at the door, Vinyl, Octavia, and Terra had seen the whole exchange. Looking at each other with knowing smiles, they quietly crept away from the door, leaving the two be for now.

* * *

Twilight sighed as she, Gene, Belle, Juniper, Pinkie, and Mage entered the hotel room. "We're back," Twilight said tiredly. "How did-" her words died in her throat when they saw Korrina worriedly standing by a bed...with Lucario, covered in bandages, lying on it.

"W-What happened?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Everyone else in the room looked at them, before Korrina walked towards them, glaring at Twilight. "This has gone on long enough, Twilight," she said, before her eyes turned sad as she glanced at Lucario's unconscious form. "All this...It's just not worth it anymore."

Mage floated over to the unconscious Lucario. She let out a low whistle as she sensed the pain emanating from him. "What happened?" She asked. "Something did some real damage to him..." She didn't mention that his body wasn't the only thing that was bruised.

"We found the Lucario and Mawile from town hall," Solana explained. "They wouldn't let us past, and she attacked him... or he accepted her challenge...I don't know which it was." Everything had happened so fast, Solana wasn't entirely sure what had happened.

Korrina pulled a chair next to the bed and placed a paw on her partners arm. "I don't know what to do, I'm not sure what would happen if we took him to a hospital."

Twilight shook her head and took another look at Lucario's battered form. "She's right," Twilight said softly. "We've been at this for three days, and all that's been accomplished is..." She dropped her head. "Is that my plans have gotten two of my friends beaten up."

No one said anything.

"If Lucario's well enough to move tomorrow, we're going back to Ponyville," Twilight said with finality. "I think it's time we cut our loses and just head home."

No one protested as Twilight trotted out of the room. "Everyone?" Juniper said. "I think we should all get some sleep. I'll go check on Twilight."

Juniper floated out the door after her, and soon Rainbow, Pinkie, Solana and Lunick had left as well. Gene, Belle and Mage remained momentarily.

"I'm not leaving him," Korrina said, as if to answer an unspoken question. "Not now. Not... not when he needs me."

Gene looked to Belle and sent her a quick message. The Gardevoir nodded and ushered Mage into the adjoining room.

Gene took a deep breath and pulled up a chair beside Korrina. "I could never stand seeing Belle like this," He said. "Even before she and I..." Gene cleared his throat. "I use to sit up all night beside her, whether we were in a Pokémon Center or on the road. I had to make sure she was okay, that nothing happened to her in the middle of the night. She'd always scold me afterwards, of course," He smiled. "But I knew she'd have done the same for me."

Korrina didn't say anything.

"I always blamed myself. 'what if I'd done this instead?', or, 'I should have switched her out then'. I suppose it's like that with a lot of trainers, huh?"

Korrina nodded.

"But she never once blamed me, most of the time, if you can believe it, she'd blame herself. I think it was mostly because she felt bad for putting me through that, for not dodging an attack, or giving me advice." Gene looked at Korrina and put a hand on her shoulder. "But I could never blame her."

When Korrina didn't say anything, Gene spoke up once again. "You know it's not your fault right?"

"Of course I do," Korrina said. "But... I shouldn't have let him fight her, you saw what she did to Iris."

Gene frowned. "You had no way of knowing that she could beat him. Heck, he gave me and my team a run for our money when we challenged you," The Gallade smirked.

Korrina winced as she recalled her last battle before being brought to Equus, the one preceding her ratting out Gene to those Jennies.

"What I'm saying is, he wouldn't want you to blame yourself." The Psychic-type stood up and made his way towards the door.

"Gene," Korrina called after him. "Wait."

Gene turned back towards her, a curious look in his eyes. "I just," She began. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for... for how I acted and-"

Gene cut her off as he made his way back over to her. "I forgave two Pokémon Rangers, and they actually tried to ARREST me. I think I can do the same for you." He held out his hand. "Friends?" He asked.

Korrina stared at him for a moment, then grasped his hand with her paw. "Friends."

Gene smiled as he once again made his way to his hotel room. "Try not to stay up too late," He advised. "You really start to worry once it gets past twelve."

Once Gene left, Korrina turned her attention back to Lucario. She checked his pulse and his breathing, as she had done ever so often for the past hour, then sighed. "I'm so sorry," She said. Putting her paws on his bandaged chest. "I shouldn't have let this happen to you."

At that point, Korrina wished nothing more than to be able to help her partner. Somehow. It was then that Korrina felt a tingling sensation emanating from her paws, accompanied by a soft pink light. "Wh-what?"

Korrina watched as the energy surged from her body and into Lucario's. As it did, she saw some of his bruises start to fade. "Heal Pulse," She gasped, before a grin appeared on her muzzle. "I know Heal Pulse!"

Korrina's shouting, or just the sound of her voice, stirred Lucario from his sleep. "Hry," He croaked, his voice hoarse. "Are you alright?"

Korrina's eyes watered and she wrapped her arms around Lucario's neck and pulled him into a hug. "I'm just glad you're alright," She said, tears of relief falling from her eyes.

Lucario, slightly shocked, quickly returned the hug, a small smile on his face.

Neither of them noticed the grinning face watching them through the door. _"Knew it,"_ Mage said to herself, disappearing back into the woodwork, and leaving the two of them be...for now.

* * *

Twilight sighed as she was handed a stack of tickets. She really wished that this mission had gone better, but she wasn't going to put anymore of her friends in danger.

"Alright everyone, here you go." Twilight passed out the tickets, ignoring the shocked looks she was getting from passing ponies.

"I have a feeling we'll be getting our own train car again," Korrina said. "Come on Lucario, let's head in and get you settled."

Lucario had one of his arms in a sling, Korrina leading him around by his good arm.

Before they could make it onto the train, Belle felt a shiver run up her spine. "You alright?" Gene asked, sensing her distress.

Belle shook her head. "I just felt... something familiar, somewhere around-"

"HUH!" Pinkie suddenly jumped up and gasped before streaking back towards the ticket booth.

"What's she-" Twilight began, but stopped when she saw just who Pinkie was after.

"Vinyl! Octi!" Pinkie cried, wrapping her arms around the startled mares. "I'm so, so, soooo, glad I found you!"

"Pinkie," Twilight said, eyeing a group of Earth Ponies who had jumped back when Pinkie had grabbed the mares. "I think you should-"

Belle's eyes widened, as did the eyes of the blue Earth Pony. "You!"

Every member of both groups looked at each other, the black and red stallion who was standing next to the mare glaring daggers at Belle, as her eyes widened, but they seemed to be more in fear than anything, while the yellow mare gritted her teeth.

"Princess Twilight?" Octavia asked. "What is going on here?"

Before Twilight could say anything. The yellow mare turned to Octavia and said. "They're the ones we told you about! That one attacked Ellie!" she shouted, pointing at Lucario.

Vinyl looked at the group, then pointed an accusatory hoof at Iris. "So that means you're the dude who tried to cut Nick's head off!?"

Iris stomped her foot, shaking the platform. "It's not that kind of Guillotine, and I'm not a dude!"

"Enough chit chat!" Korrina shouted. "You attacked Lucario!"

"HE attacked ME!" The blue mare shouted. "Nick! Drop this illusion!"

Gulping, the stallion seemed to concentrate, then a dark mist flowed off of himself, and the other two mares, revealing a Zoroark, a Mawile... and a very battered Lucario.

Since Elena had not had access to a Heal Pulse the night before, her bruises were still clearly visible, and just like Lucario, her left arm was splinted.

"Oh... ok," Twilight said, slightly surprised. "I... uh..." Twilight didn't know what to say. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle," She introduced herself. "And these are my friend," She said nervously. "Princess Celestia sent us here to figure out why Pokémon were disappearing."

The Mawile scoffed. "We're not falling for anymore of your traps," She said.

"Especially when you're with the likes of them," Elena pointed to Solana and Lunick. "We met your leader in the park the other day."

The Pokémon Rangers paled.

At this point, Gene stepped forward. "Everyone, just hold on a second. Before we turn Manehattan into a battle ground, why don't we give everyone a chance to explain themselves?"

Twilight nodded frantically.

Elena and Terra kept their attack stance, as did Belle.

Nick placed a paw on his injured friends shoulder, before he glared at them for a moment. After what they did to Elena, he trusted them about as far as he could throw all of them at the same time, but he wasn't about to risk aggravating Elena's injuries, OR endangering any innocent bystanders. So, with that he gave them a begrudging nod and looked into Elena's eyes. Likewise, Gene did the same with his mate.

The three of them glared at each other, before finally nodding and relaxed their stances.

Twilight smiled, glad that diplomacy was working, though now she also idly wondered, _"Why didn't we try this the first time? It would have probably saved us a LOT of trouble...and pain."_ However, before anything could be said, she was interrupted by an insidious laugh from above. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

"Oh come one!" Vinyl shouted in exasperation, as last she heard that voice, the owner had been sent flying over the horizon.

"Looks like I finally managed to track you down," Twilight looked up and saw a milky green Earth Pony stallion leaning over the edge of a hot air balloon, a somewhat unhealthy grin on his face.

"What do you want Cheap Skate?" Octavia asked in annoyance as she glared at the annoying stallion. "We're in the middle of something."

"Does this guy have a death wish?" Elena mused, as even in her weakened state, she could easily send him flying again..

Cheap Skate ignored the questions. "You two and your pets humiliated me," He said, an unhealthy gleam creeping into his eyes.

"We are not pets!" Terra shouted. "Now why don't you get down here so I can have a go at launching you into orbit?"

"'Maw' all you want little imp," Cheap Skate said. "I'm just here to get my revenge."

It was then Twilight noticed the box strapped to the bottom of the balloon. It appeared to be made of steel, and was rattling as if something were inside.

"And this little baby is going to do just that," The stallion hit a button and the box dropped, landing with a thud on the ground.

The group watched in silence for a moment, and after nothing had happened for a while, Rainbow said. "Is something suppose to-"

"CARONA!" The box exploded outwards in a fiery explosion. Almost instinctively, Nick threw himself in front of Elena, prepared to take the fiery blast to prevent her from further damage as he shielded her with his body, and braced himself for the pain...any minute now...it wasn't coming. Surprised at the notable lack of fire, charred skin, and his own screaming, Nick peaked open an eyelid to see what was happening.

Instead, it appeared to be being held back by some kind of force field.

"Everyone who does not wish to be attacked by a giant fire breathing insect!" Belle shouted, straining to contain the fire. "Leave! NOW!"

The few ponies who had remained throughout the confrontation bolted, leaving only Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Vinyl, and Octavia.

"Raahh!" Belle forced the fire back at the Volcarona that had emerged from the box.

"What is that thing?!" Dash asked, staring at the very large moth like Pokémon that appeared to be cloaked in flames.

"Volcarona," Juniper answered. "A Bug/Fire-type, and an all around very powerful Pokémon."

Iris looked up at Cheap Skate, who was laughing in his balloon. "Are you insane!?" She shouted. "This thing could burn the city down!" Despite that, it seemed he either didn't hear her, or just plain didn't care.

"Why is it so angry?" Solana asked. "I thought these things were usually more collected."

"What have you done with him?!" The Volcarona shouted, it's voice feminine. She glared at the Pokémon. "Where is he?!" Another wave of fire blasted forth from the Pokémon.

"Everyone get down!" Lunick warned.

Everyone jumped behind the nearest obstruction to the fires path.

"This is bad," Twilight said, hiding behind the ticket booth with Gene and Belle. "This is really, really bad... have you guys ever fought one of these things before?"

They both shook their heads. "Not only are they _really_ rare in the wild, Volcarona's have an odd habit of melting the Pokéballs of those who attempt to catch them."

Twilight looked around frantically. "Come on, come on... we need to stop it."

"No duh!" Lunick shouted from his hiding place behind a tree.

"Ah ha! Heat Wave!" The fire attack slammed into the tree and caused it to begin burning, Lunick jumped clear just as it went up in flames.

"_Belle,"_ Twilight thought. _"Psychic link."_

Belle nodded and her eyes glowed blue as she linked everyone's minds. Almost everyone's.

"_Terra, Elena, and Nick refuse to let me in,"_ Belle said. _"I could force my way into their minds-"_

"_No,"_ Twilight said. _"No forcing. If they don't want you in their head, then stay out."_

"_I get where they're coming from,"_ Vinyl Scratch said. _"I still don't entirely trust you guys."_

"_Vinyl! That a Princess you're talking to! Show some respect!"_ Octavia scolded.

"_Not now Octavia,"_ Twilight sighed. _"We need a plan of attack."_ An overturned cart burst into flames not far away. _"And fast,"_

"_Alright,"_ Mage said, her voice uncharacteristically serious. _"We're only going to have time for me to say this once. DJ-Pon3? Tell the Zoroark and his friends what I say, word for word."_

"_Mage, what are you-"_ Belle began.

"_Not now Belle, I think I know what's wrong with her, but we're going to need to get to that balloon while she's distracted, now will you all listen to my plan?"_

Everyone shut up. _"Good, now here's what we're going to do."_

As Mage detailed her plan, and as Vinyl transmitted it to Nick, the Volcarona continued to wreak havoc, evening forcing a few of the Pokémon to change hiding places when she incinerated the old ones.

"_Is everyone ready?"_ Mage asked as she finished her plan.

"_Nick wants to know what he's going to find in the basket,"_ Octavia said.

"_Just tell him to look for the box, I know it's there."_ Mage said with surety. _"Now, GO!"_

In one fluid motion, Belle, Gene, Solana, Lunick, Korrina, and Terra jumped from their hiding places.

"You!" Volcarona screeched, "Where is he!?"

"Don't know what you're talking about lady," Lunick said. "But you need to calm down."

"Not until I find him! U-turn!" The Volcarona shot forward and struck Belle, knocking her backwards.

"Belle!" Gene cried.

"I'm ok," Belle said, struggling to her feet. "Just keep her distracted."

"I'll do ya one better!" Terra cried. "Feint Attack!" She leapt forward and struck the Volcarona.

"Fire Spin!" Volcarona shot a spinning vortex of flames towards the little Mawile.

"Terra!" Elena cried from the sidelines. She tried to go after her, but Vinyl and Octavia held her back.

"No way are we letting you get anymore beat up girl," Vinyl said, struggling against the Lucario's strength, even though she was still a bit weak.

"Shadow Ball!" Belle fired an orb of darkness at the Bug-type, it dodged to one side and countered.

"Silver Wind!" The Volcarona flapped her wings, firing the resulting winds at Belle.

"NO!" Gene jumped in front of Belle, intercepting the attack.

"Gene!" Belle ran to her fallen mate. "What were you thinking?!" She asked angrily.

Gene shook his head, trying to clear himself of the dust that had accompanied the attack. "I'm tired of seeing you get hurt," Gene answered. "Especially since I can do something about it now."

Belle didn't know whether to be flattered or upset. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to decide.

"Where. Is. HE!" The Volcarona screeched, suddenly behind Gene and Belle. "Flare-"

"Power Gem!" The Volcarona looked up just in time for several stone orbs slammed into her.

"Gahh!" The Bug-type hit the ground, flailing her wings in an attempt to return to the air.

Mage smiled. "I'll keep her busy,"

Up above the battle, Cheap Skate sat in his balloon smiling. His plan was working perfectly. The insect would destroy the creatures, and he could claim credit for ridding Manehattan of the monsters that had plagued them. Despite having only gotten back to the city yesterday, he was certain the mood would only be worse after that announcement. It conveniently didn't occur to him that this plan might not quite work out as he planned, particularly how there was a high chance that the city would be a pile of ashes by the time this was over...or that there was a PRINCESS down there.

As he watched, the crate near his hooves shook every now and again, as if something inside it was shivering.

"Hey Cheap Skate?" The stallion whirled around to see... nothing. "I'm over here." He whirled around again. "Whoops, no, I meant over here." He once again looked behind him. Still nothing.

He looked around frantically as he heard the sound of a mare laughing. "Man, you're slow, here, I'll hold still."

"Like I'm falling for that-AHHH!" Cheap Skate turned around to see a dark grey Dragon-like creature with a Zoroark on its back.

Nick leapt off the Aerodactyl and into the basket, the illusion of the Fossil Pokémon fading to reveal a rainbow maned Pegasus mare smirking at him.

Cheap Skate was so shocked at the sight that he failed to notice Nick rifling around on the floor of the balloon until he found a small crate.

"I've got it!" He shouted. "Come on." Nick leapt over the side of the balloon and Rainbow caught him.

"No," Cheap Skate whispered. "No!" he shouted futilely as his plans were quickly going up in smoke.

Back on the ground, Mage and the others were still attempting to stop the Volcarona's rampage.

Mage was too exhausted to throw anymore Power Gems, having already used half a dozen in a row, and they lacked another type advantage.

"Mage!" Rainbow Dash called. "We got it!"

Mage smiled and floated over to Rainbow and Nick while Iris kept the Volcarona distracted.

Mage's necklace glowed as she picked up on what was inside the box. "Perfect," She lifted the box in a telekinetic grip. "Hey! Volcarona!"

The Fire-type turned away from Iris and glared at Mage.

"Is this what you're looking for?!" Mage pushed the box along the ground, prying off the top panel as she did. Once the box reached the Volcarona, the lid was completely removed. Revealing a small, orange and white grub.

"Ma'ma?" It squeaked.

The Volcarona's hard gaze softened immediately. "Larvesta?" She asked.

The little Bug-type squirmed out of the container and over to the much larger Pokémon. "Mommy!" He cried, jumping up on his tiny legs and clinging to his mother.

Up until that point, none of the ponies present had never seen a bug cry. The tears streaked from Volcarona's eyes and sizzled into steam as they ran down her face. "My son," She sobbed.

"He kidnapped its baby!" Pinkie shouted, hopping out from her hiding spot with the other ponies, Juniper, Lucario, and Elena. "That is so not cool!"

Volcarona looked at the Pokémon and ponies surrounding her and her child. Then at the Ghost-type who had returned her child. "Th-thank you," She said.

"Don't mention it," Mage smiled, before she developed an evil grin. "Actually, if you'd be so kind as to deal with that guy for us? After all, he's the one who kidnapped your child," she said, gesturing to Cheap Skate who was frantically trying to get his balloon out of there.

Volcarona glared at the stallion. She quickly put her child down, before she flared her wings. Rising several more feet off the ground, her wings began to beat more and more rapidly, gathering air around her body. She shot one last glare at Cheap Skate before calling out her attack. "HURRICANE!"

The gale force winds of the attack struck Cheap Skate's balloon, knocking it clear out of the city as the stallion hung on for dear life, screaming something about 'blasting off' as he did.

Twilight looked around at the scorched and destroyed clearing, and she was pretty sure part of the platform was missing. Looking up at where Cheap Skate had been, she couldn't help but worry. Worry that a Stallion that was possibly unstable (and not to mention seemingly obsessed with Vinyl and her friends) was still running free. Thinking about what to do about it, she got an idea, and decided it was time she started to make use of her status as a Princess. She took a deep breath and smiled. "Everyone," She said. "We're going to be postponing the train to Ponyville until later. There's something I need to do."

* * *

A few hours later, and after a long explanation that involved quite a bit of shouting from both parties of Pokemon, everyone was on the next train to Ponyville, Vinyl and Octavia having decided to go through with their vacation/escape plan anyway, bringing Nick, Elena, and Terra along. "So the Rangers aren't against relationships like yours and Belle's?" Terra asked Gene. Of the three new Pokemon, only Terra had decided to try talking to them, while Nick and Elena had kept to themselves.

The Gallade smiled. "Well, Solana and Lunick have been making progress, and while I wouldn't say they're supportive, they're at least accepting." He raised an eyebrow at Terra in curiosity. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason," She said as she slid away from the booth, wringing her hands.

"Mage," Twilight asked. "How did you know that Volcarona was upset because Larvesta was missing?"

The Mismagius shrugged. "Volcarona aren't normally very aggressive, and they only get that... aggressive, when their family is in danger."

"Yeah," Twilight said. "But how did you know that?"

Mage smiled. "I read it in a book!"

"Hey... uh... Mage? Can I talk to you?" Mage looked down to see Terra looking up at her.

"Sure," Mage answered, slightly suspicious. Terra led her away from the table she had been at. "What do you want?"

The Mawile crossed her arms. "First off, you owe me an apology."

"What for?!" Mage shouted.

"For burning my jaw," Terra replied, pointing towards her second mouth.

Mage glared at her. "Maybe _you_ should apologize for trying to eat me!"

"I wasn't going to eat you," Terra defended. "Just hold you for questioning."

The two glared at each other for moment, then they both broke out into smiles, which soon turned into laughter. "Yeah, I'm not apologizing," Mage said with a laugh.

"Same here," Terra responded likewise. "Now as for why I actually called you over here..."

"You need a tricksters help with something?" Mage asked with a grin. "Maybe about how those two," Mage gestured to Elena and Nick, who were sitting across the car in another booth, watching the countryside. "Need to get together?"

Terra grinned devilishly. "How did you know?"

Mage laughed and shook her necklace. "One, I can sense emotions with these, it's how I knew Volcarona was distressed. And two," She looked back at Elena and Nick, both of them unaware of the other occasionally sneaking glances from across the table. "A Zubat could see they like each other."

Terra nodded. "Well, Vinyl and Octavia already promised to help me where they could? You think you could lend a ha- err... could you help?"

Mage chuckled. "I tried to set up Gene and Belle before they fell head over heels for each other," She informed the Mawile. "And while I wasn't the reason for it, I'm confident that I'll be able to help."

Terra smiled and held out her hand. Mage deadpanned. "Yeah, still no arms."

Meanwhile, at another table, Rainbow Dash had been trying to get an answer out of Twilight about where she had gone off to after they rescued Larvesta.

"Come on, Twilight," Rainbow whined. "Just tell me, where'd you go?"

Twilight smiled. "It was nothing Dash," The Alicorn then developed a smirk and looked out the train window. "Just tying up a loose end."

* * *

Cheap Skate grumbled as he trudged back to Manehattan. His perfect plan, his chance at being a hero. Ruined by those Celestia damned monsters. Sighing again, he looked towards the city, his eyes brightening at the idea that he wouldn't have to spend another week trudging through the woods like the last time he had a run in with those monsters. However, just before he entered the city, a poster caught his eye. When he saw it, his eyes bugged out before he ran back into the woods as if Timberwolves were on his trail. Once he was far enough away, he let out a roar of anger at what he had seen, cursing those monsters for what they had done to him, and cursing a certain mare that he thought was playing at being a Princess.

**Wanted**

**Cheap Skate**

_Crimes_

_-Destruction of Property_

_-Illegal Dealings (Purchases, sales, etc.)_

_-Assault_

_-Kidnapping_

_-Child Abuse/Endangerment_

_-Attempted Murder_

_-Arson_

_-Assault Against the Crown_

_Suspect is wanted for multiple accounts of assault, 1 account of illegal dealings, 1 account of kidnapping and child abuse/endangerment, 2 accounts of attempted murder, 2 accounts of Destruction of Property, 1 account of Arson, and Indirect Assault and Endangerment of a Princess._

_If seen, suspect is to be captured on sight and detained until further instructions._

_By orders of Her highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle_


	38. Chapter 35

Celestia grimaced as she pushed open the door to Arceus' meeting hall. "It's been almost two days, and if what I know about him is anything to go by, he's not one to procrastinate."

Since her meeting a few days prior, she had awaited word that Sombra had been... dealt with. Either from her niece or from Arceus.

No news had come as of yet.

Celestia tapped her hoof as she waited for Arceus to appear. After a minute, a flash of gold announced the Alpha Pokémon's arrival. _"Greetings Princess,"_ Arceus said. _"What brings you here today?"_

"I wanted to-" Celestia began, then stopped as she stared, dumbfounded, at Arceus. "Why are you wearing a pith helmet?"

Arceus glanced up at his headgear. _"Hmm, must have forgotten that was there after I left the pyramids."_

"What?" Celestia asked as the hat disappeared.

"_Nevermind, what is it you wanted to ask me?"_

Celestia shook her head. "What's happening with the Crystal Empire? Has your son found Sombra yet?"

Arceus shook his head. _"I didn't send Giratina this time, I asked Yveltal to fly to the Crystal Empire and assist your niece in disposing of Sombra."_

Celestia looked at Arceus in confusion. "Any particular reason you sent this... Yveltal," She frowned at the name. "Instead of Giratina?"

Arceus shrugged. _"While Giratina is well versed in shadows and darkness, Yveltal's methods are more fitting to the task at hand,"_ He explained. _"Plus, it'll be good for him to get out. He's been in his room since we got here."_

Celestia hid her disdain. "Very well... why don't you tell me about Yveltal then? What's his story?"

Arceus considered this for a moment, then answered. _"He's one of the three Legendaries tasked with overseeing the Kalos region, the other two being Lord Zygarde and Lady Xerneas, and part of the Mortality Duo, alongside Xerneas."_

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Mortality Duo?"

Arceus nodded. _"Xerneas and Yveltal represent life and death respectively."_

Celestia stopped as her brain considered what Arceus had just told her, then what she knew about the Crystal Empire and Cadence.

Outside the room, in Canterlot castle, the hallway shook as the Princess yelled. "YOU SENT DEATH TO DEFEAT-"

The shout was cut off abruptly by a suddenly soundproof door, before any passing ponies could hear the rest.

"-KING SOMBRA!? ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"_I felt it fitting, considering what you told me. It seems this King Sombra has a knack for cheating death, so I figured a more...direct approach might be what was needed."_

In a way, that made sense. Sombra should have died at least twice by now, but Celestia wasn't convinced. "What does his... title, enable him to do?" She asked, fearful of the answer.

"_Yveltal can drain the life force of any living creature within a certain vicinity,"_ Arceus explained._"Including plants and possibly microbial life forms."_

Celestia stared at Arceus in disbelief. "Why would you even create a being like that?"

"_Zygarde is the Order Pokémon, and was put in charge of Kalos. At first I helped him oversee the region so he could also focus on maintaining the order of the world, but he needed assistance after I was... imprisoned. So I helped him create Xerneas and Yveltal, life and death. It's a balance thing."_

Celestia took a deep breath. "How dangerous is Yveltal? Should we take precautions in case he goes rogue?" She asked.

Arceus smirked. _"How dangerous is Discord? How dangerous are most of my Legendaries?"_

Celestia frowned at him.

Arceus sighed. _"Yveltal is less dangerous than me or my sons, and I have precautions in place that prevent him from draining the life force of other Legendaries,"_ He explained. _"Not because I don't trust him though. I put the same kind of protections on Darkrai to prevent him from entering other Legendaries dreams."_

Arceus turned away from the Princess as he considered the other half of her question. _"As for just how dangerous he is... if Xerneas is around, she negates his ability, and I can do the same on a whim. And should he ever 'go rogue' as you put it, I will deal with him, and take responsibility for whatever he did."_

"You have an amazing amount of faith in the Legen... in your family," Celestia said.

Arceus smiled softly. _"Sometimes, those you have the least reason to trust, have the greatest need for it."_

Celestia nodded. For a minute the two stood in silence.

"_Did you need anything else Princess?"_ Arceus asked.

Celestia thought for a moment, then answered. "The world summit will be in five days, roughly marking the two week anniversary of your arrival...or at least, your announcement," She paused, then added. "And you're allowed to bring an adviser with you to the proceedings, to assist you in any matters that may arise."

Arceus smiled. _"I believe I know just who to bring. Thank you, Princess."_

Celestia nodded and made her way to the exit, before she left, she paused when a thought occurred to her, and turned back towards Arceus. "You're... you're not going to bring one of your sons are you?" She asked. "It's just... I don't think they'd fit in the meeting room, and-"

"_And you don't want me freaking out the other rulers any more than I have already. I understand,"_ He turned back to the Princess. _"I'm actually planning to bring my daughter Uxie. This kind of thing is right up her alley."_

Celestia recalled Arceus' daughters, though not which one was Uxie. "Very well. I'll see you in five days, if not sooner." And with that, the Alicorn left the room.

Arceus smiled to himself as he trotted into the Hall of Legends. _"She's always been interested in politics,"_ He mused. _"So I'm sure she'll jump at this opportunity, plus,"_ He smirked. _"If they ask about her eyes... they'll know not to underestimate any of us."_

* * *

It was just past three when Twilight finally stepped off what had to be the most awkward train ride she'd ever been on.

It wasn't anything specific, just the inherent awkwardness of being in the same train car as three beings that didn't trust you. Terra had actually been quite sociable though. And Octavia was the same respectful mare as always.

It didn't help that Belle and Elena had been glaring at each other for the past half hour, and the fact that Belle was curled up next to Gene, smirking at the Lucario as if she knew something, just seemed to agitate the injured Lucario even more.

"Ok," Twilight said, turning back to the group as they all exited the train. "Since some of you are new to Ponyville, why don't we give you the grand tour?" Twilight asked.

"Thanks Twilight," Vinyl replied. "But we got this."

Twilight sighed, then smiled. "Why don't you take Pinkie Pie? She knows pretty much everyone in town, and I'm sure she can help with the tour."

Pinkie Pie smiled. "That's a super-duper idea Twilight!" Pinkie said, bouncing in place. "And I can start planning your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"

Before anyone could protest, Pinkie had grabbed Iris by the claw and Nick by the paw and dragged them off towards the town. This had Elena and Terra chasing after him, and Vinyl and Octavia chasing them.

"You sure that's a good idea Twilight?" Gene asked. "Nick, Elena and Vinyl Scratch still seem kind of... upset," He sighed. "Not that I can blame them."

"I know," Twilight said. "But trust me on this one. NOBODY can stay mad at Pinkie Pie for long."

* * *

"And that's the way to the schoolhouse, where Cheerilee teaches class Monday through Friday, as long as there's not a national disaster,"

"I'm not sure she's breathing," Nick whispered to Elena in a hushed tone. "She keeps talking, but she's not taking any air in."

For the past half hour, Pinkie Pie had been giving the Pokémon what she called. 'Pinkie Pie's Super Tourtacular Tour of Ponyville'. This apparently involved telling them who lived in what house, worked in what shop, and introducing them to anypony they met on the street.

Iris trailed behind the rest of the group, still uncertain about trusting them. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was seemingly oblivious to the situation, and instead focused on her tour, occasionally slipping in a question so she could retrieve another piece of information to help her plan her new friends' upcoming parties.

"And this is the park where I threw my first 'Welcome to Ponyville Extravaganza' which was a big party welcoming all the Pokémon, even Arceus showed up!"

That shocked them. "You met Arceus?" Nick asked nervously.

Pinkie nodded. "Uh huh, a few times actually, he seems like a pretty nice guy once you get to know him, a little absentminded maybe. Anyway, did I tell you this was also where Rainbow Dash and Latias raced? It was so amazing..."

While Pinkie droned on Iris noticed a little head kept poking out of a nearby bush to stare at her, an Axew.

Iris smiled as she remembered her Haxorus, and when she had been that small. _I hope she's alright,_ Iris thought.

Checking that Pinkie still had the rest of the group occupied, Iris made her way over to the bush.

She was standing less than five feet from it when the Axew popped its head out again. "Eep!" He squeaked, jumping back into the bush.

Iris chuckled. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," She said calmly. After a moment, the Axew emerged from the bush, followed by a Bagon, a Gible, and a Dratini.

Iris chuckled again. "Well, would look at this," She said to herself. It was rare to see this many Dragons, especially first forms, in one place.

"Um... hello," Bagon said nervously. "Sorry to bother you miss..."

Iris couldn't help but smile. "It's no problem," She assured the young Pokémon. "But why were you hiding in that bush?"

"We saw you come into the clearing," Dratini answered. "And... well..."

She didn't have to finish. "You don't have to be afraid of little 'ol me," Iris said comfortingly. "I'd never hurt a Dragon, especially ones such as yourselves."

"Really?" Gible asked.

"Of course not. In fact, I specialized in Dragon-types back on Earth."

The four little Dragons looked at her in confusion, then at each other, then Bagon spoke up. "Um... what does that mean?"

Iris' shoulders slumped, she had forgotten the part where she wasn't a trainer anymore. "Lord Arceus brought a bunch of humans with when he moved here," Iris explained. "But he turned them all into Pokémon... one of those humans was me."

The Dragon Pokémon's eyes widened. "You were a human?" Gible asked. "That's... cool," She said.

"You were a Dragon Trainer?" Dratini asked. "Were you from Blackthorn City? That's where we lived."

"No, I was from Opelucid City," She smirked. "And I wasn't a Dragon _Trainer_." When the four of them starting looking confused again, she added. "I was a Dragon _Master_."

The four of them gasped. There were only a few Dragon Master's in the entire world, the Master of the Dragon Tamer Clan was the eldest, while Lance and Clair were the youngest aside from...

"Lady Iris?" Bagon asked.

"That's me... wait did you call me Lady Iris?" She had had a few initiate Dragon Trainers refer to her as such, but she wasn't aware that Dragon-type Pokémon did the same.

"Yes my Lady," Bagon replied. "And it's an honor to meet you."

Iris looked down at the four of them, all staring up at her in awe. "So," She began. "What are you all up to?" She had no idea how to address this situation, usually, younger Dragons just wanted her to play with them.

Bagon stood up straight and saluted. "We're the Training Dragon club ma'am!"

Iris held a claw over her mouth to keep from laughing as he explained to her their goal, it was a noble and serious thing, but it was just so cute coming from a little Bagon.

"We actually have a fifth member," Dratini added at the end. "But Spike lives in the big tree in town,"

Iris wondered if this was the same Spike Twilight had mentioned.

"Spike's kinda weird," Gible said absentmindedly. "He keeps saying that since he's not a Pokémon, he doesn't battle, but he's a Dragon!"

Yep, probably the same Spike.

Smiling to herself, Iris decided to help Twilight's assistant out. "Have you considered that maybe Spike's not made to be in Pokémon battles?" Iris asked. "He's not the same kind of Dragon we are." She felt odd, including herself in that.

The four of them blinked, obviously not getting it. "Look," Iris said. "Spike doesn't have the same abilities as a Pokémon, he can't use attacks, and he doesn't heal as fast," She explained. "Plus, he's not as durable, so he could get really hurt in a battle."

Iris was just making assumptions based on what Twilight had told her when she asked the Alicorn about the Dragon's native to Equus.

"Really?" Dratini asked.

"Really," Iris answered.

"Aww, but we were looking forward to working with him," Axew complained.

"I'm sure there are other ways you can help Spike, and vice versa," Iris said, she noticed that Pinkie and the others were watching her now, some rather impatiently. "Anyway, it's been nice meeting you all, but I've got to go now."

Iris waved goodbye to the little Dragons, and promised to give them some pointers next time she saw them.

Once she was out of earshot, the Dragons all looked at each other. "Ohmygosh! WemetIris! We ACTUALLY MET IRIS!"

* * *

"Well, the place is still standing," Gene said as he, Belle and Mage made their way to Carousel Boutique. "That's a good sign."

Gene was slightly nervous as he walked up to the door, he wasn't use to leaving his Pokémon alone for any extended amount of time, and he didn't know how Fang or Draco would act.

Belle smiled at her mate. "Don't worry, Draco won't do anything stupid, and we brought Mage with so she couldn't get Fang into any trouble."

"Hey!" The Mismagius cried indignantly.

Gene smiled as he opened the door. "You're probably right but still-Ack!"

Belle and Mage watched in shock as a blue blur shot from the boutique and tackled Gene to the ground.

"Gene!" River cried, wrapping her body around the former human. "You're back... that is you right? Draco told me you were a Gallade now."

Gene chuckled. "Yeah, it's me, it's good to see you River."

The Dragonair's tail wagged and she hugged her trainer even tighter, Mage and Belle laughed, until Gene's eyes started to bulge out of his head.

"Alright, that's enough," Belle said teasingly. "Time to let go. Gene does need to breathe, after all."

River pouted, but uncoiled herself. "Sorry," She said.

Gene chuckled and patted River on the head. "It's alright, but when did you get here?"

River smiled. "I was in a river when I woke up, I didn't know where I was or where you were, so I made my way to a lake that I found and hid there for a while," If River had had shoulders, they would've slumped. "Then I got scared that something happened to you, but when I started singing Draco found me!" River leaned in and nuzzled her trainer, then Belle, then Mage. "And now you're back!"

Gene laughed again and pulled River into a hug. The Dragonair was probably the sweetest member of his team, partially because she was, as far as Pokémon years went, the youngest.

"So is anyone else here?" Gene asked. "And I assume you met Rarity already,"

River nodded. "She was surprised to see me at first, but she wasn't mad, especially after Draco explained everything," River giggled. "She really liked my gems and wings."

"That's great," Gene said with a smile. "Is she here?"

"No," River said. "She said she was going gem hunting, not sure when she'll be back. And she took Fang with to help with the digging."

"And Draco?" Gene asked.

River blinked, then smiled. "He just went for a quick flight, he should be back any second."

Before Gene could ask how she knew that, his Flygon landed behind him and grabbed him in a bone crushing hug. "You're back!"

"Errk!" Gene squeaked.

Belle signed. "What is it with you Dragons? You know he needs to breath."

Draco immediately dropped Gene. "Sorry!"

"It's alright," Gene wheezed. "I'm glad you found River."

Draco smiled, then asked. "How was your trip? Did you fix the problem?"

Gene, Belle, and Mage all looked at each other. "Why don't we go inside?" Belle suggested. "We'll tell you once we all get settled."

* * *

"Fang, I must thank you once again for agreeing to help me with this," Rarity said as she and Fang arrived at the rock field where rarity usually found her gems. "If there's any way I can repay you, you simply must let me know."

Fang shook his head. "Nope, I'm good. You've been nice enough to let us stay with you, I just wanted to do something to repay you is all."

Rarity smiled. "In that case." Her horn lit up with her gem finding spell and she marked a spot on the ground. "There's a bunch of gems right there."

Fang smiled and plodded over to the spot, sniffing the ground for a moment, the Houndoom dug into the soil.

While Fang dug, Rarity calculated how many gems she would need for a few new orders, and in case anything last minute came up. Straightening her sun hat Rarity asked. "Are you comfortable up there Spritzee?"

"Mm hmm," The little Fairy-type hummed contentedly. "Thanks for bringing me along Miss Rarity, the sun feels nice on my feathers."

Rarity smiled. The Perfume Pokémon had made herself right at home in Carousel Boutique, and Rarity had become quite fond of her company.

"Found 'em," Fang called before leaping out of the hole he had dug.

Rarity hummed to herself as she levitated the gems out of the hole. "Let's see, ruby, sapphire, emerald, diamond, amethyst... hmm, what's this?" Rarity held up a stone she had almost mistaken for a fire opal. It was bright yellow and orange, and looked like a tiny bit of fire had been trapped within the stone. What was most peculiar was that the stone seemed to be... warm.

"Odd design. Maybe it belongs to one of the Diamond Dogs?" Rarity hadn't seen much of the dogs since they ponynapped her, and though she had run into a few on her trips here, they hadn't given her any trouble.

Fang walked over to Rarity and looked at the gem in her hoof. "That's a Fire Stone!" He said in surprise.

Rarity looked at him in confusion. "What's a Fire Stone?"

Fang stared blankly at her for a second, as if he thought she was joking, them remembered he was on a different planet. "It's a type of gemstone that can cause certain Pokémon to evolve," Fang explained.

"Is that so?" Rarity asked, interested in the idea.

Fang nodded. "This kind works mostly on Fire-types,"

"Then there are more of these..." Rarity tried to find the right word.

"They're called Evolution Stones," Fang supplied. "And yes, there are... eight? Nine? Maybe ten, I'm not sure."

Rarity looked at the stone for a second more, then floated it into the wagon she had brought with. "I suppose Twilight will be interested in that," Sorting through the rest of the gems, Rarity found nothing out of the ordinary until she came to the last one. "Oh my! Looks like I've found another fossil."

Rarity, on occasion, would accidentally unearth a fossils in her digging, never anything too exciting, just plants and the like which she would give to Twilight.

"Actually," Fang said. "That's a Leaf Stone."

"Another one?" Rarity said. "Quite curious, I assume this one is meant for Grass Pokémon then?"

"Yep," Fang said. "There's also Water, Thunder, Dusk, Dawn, Sun, Moon... and I think I'm forgetting a few."

"Very interesting," Rarity said. "What kinds of Pokémon Evolve with these stones anyway?"

"Well, Mage did," Fang said. "She used to be a Misdreavus, but Gene offered her a Dusk Stone to celebrate the so many anniversary of her joining our team."

"How does that work?" Rarity wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Fang answered. "You'd be better off asking Professor Juniper."

"Fair enough," Rarity said. "Now let's continue."

Over the course of the next hour, Rarity and Fang managed to find and dig up several more gem deposits, almost all of them containing one form of Evolution Stone or another, and one even containing an Old Amber.

"Well, I think we have enough now," Rarity said. "Why don't we head back hmm? I can drop these at Twilight's later today."

Fang smiled. "That sounds..." The Houndoom paused as his ears flicked, picking up on something. Sniffing the air the Houndoom growled and rushed off in the opposite, quickly disappearing over a hill.

"Fang?!" Rarity cried, trotting after him. "Ohh, if I lose him Gene will never forgive me!"

Rarity came over the hill Fang had vanished over, and gawked at the sight below her. Fang was staring down what looked to be a swarm of steel ants, ants the size of a small dog, with red eyes and pincers that looked like bear traps.

The ants were gathered around a hole in the ground, or they had been, before Fang showed up.

"GrrrrRUFF!" Fang barked at the ants.

They hissed in response, one even charging the Houndoom, mandibles wide open. Rarity gasped.

Fang spat a fireball at the oncoming insect, knocking it onto its back for a moment before it scuttled back to its group.

After a few more seconds the ants apparently lost interest and gave up, heading off away from Ponyville. Fang smiled and trotted back over to Rarity. "You mind telling me what that was about?" Rarity asked.

"Durants," Fang began. "Really destructive Bug Pokémon. You do NOT want them this close to a town."

"And you just told them to leave?" Rarity asked.

"No," Fang said. "I _persuaded_ them to look for a different place to set up their nest. Fortunately those... you called them Diamond Dogs, have been giving their scouts trouble, so they were willing to move on."

"Willing?" Rarity asked, taking a good look at the demonic, fire-spewing dog who stood taller than herself and most other ponies.

Fang rolled his eyes. "I said they needed some persuasion." He walked past Rarity saying. "Now come on, I wanna see if Gene's back yet."

Rarity just sighed and looked the way the Durant had gone. If what Fang had said was true, then it was probably for the best, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them, even if they had creeped her out a little bit.

As Rarity trotted after Fang, a grey head poked out of the ground. "Are they gone?" A voice asked from below.

"Looks like it. Big fire dog scared ants away."

"Well get back down here. Mole-man find more diamonds, we need help moving them."

The Diamond Dog sunk back into its den.

* * *

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and their respective Pokémon sat in the Cutie Mark Crusaders tree fort, the three fillies going over a checklist they had written up with information from Korrina, May, and the other former trainers.

"Alright first thing we need is to make sure they're healthy," Sweetie Belle read. "Cause Misty says you should always make sure they're not hurt or sick before doing any training."

Scootaloo looked over to the Pokémon. "You guys feeling alright?"

The three of them nodded. "Check," Scootaloo said.

"Then Korrina told us we should always be prepared, have supplies in case they need healing or we want to catch a new Pokémon, then she said to forget about that last part for now since we don't have Pokéballs...whatever those are."

Apple Bloom picked up the first aid kit the Crusaders kept in the tree fort. "Check."

"Alright," Sweetie skimmed the rest of the list. "Treat them with respect, ask them their opinion if you're unsure of what to do... Ah hah! Here we go," Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "May said that to make our Pokémon stronger and grow as trainers we need to challenge other trainers and Pokémon to battles."

Sweetie Belle pouted. "I'm still not sure about that part, doesn't everyone say you should solve your problems without fighting?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Apparently the Pokémon world was different, and if what's normal for them is fighting each other to become stronger and more awesome," The Pokémon smiled. "Then who are we to stop them?"

"Well," Sweetie began. "I guess that makes sense."

"Great," Apple Bloom said. "Now come on girls, let's see what these three can do!"

The fillies, followed by their Pokémon, raced down the ramp to their tree fort. "Alright," Scootaloo said. "First thing we need to do is find a Pokémon to battle with."

"Well let's just do it away from Sweet Apple Acres," Apple Bloom warned. "I don't think Applejack would be too happy if we set the orchard on fire... again."

The three Pokémon looked worriedly at each other, wondering what in Arceus' name these three did to set an orchard on fire, but followed the fillies anyway as they made their way off the orchard.

* * *

"Alright," Scootaloo said once they were a fair distance from Apple Bloom's home. "Now we need to find a Pokémon to fight." She grinned. "Who wants to go first?"

"Char!" Charmander stepped forward, bearing a cocky grin.

Scootaloo smiled. "Alright girls, looks like Charmander and I get to show you how it's done."

"Don't you need to find a Pokémon to battle first?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Good point," Scootaloo looked around. There were a few Pidgey and Pidove roosting in a nearby tree. A couple of Bidoof digging a burrow on the side of the road, a Graveler, snoring and leaning against a tree... "Ahh, none of these Pokémon are cool enough for our first battle," Scootaloo complained.

"What about the rock thing?" Apple Bloom offered.

Scootaloo took another look at the sleeping Rock-type. "Nah, I was going to leave it in case one of you two wanted to battle it."

Sweetie and Apple Bloom rolled their eyes.

"No, Charmander and I will battle..." She took another look around, then spotted something. "That!"

Sweetie and Apple Bloom turned to see what Scootaloo was pointing at, it turned out to be a beach ball sized thing that looked like... an angry beach ball.

"Are ya sure that's even a Pokémon?" Apple Bloom asked.

Her question was answered when the ball turned and began rolling down the path towards the fillies. "Voltorb," The Pokémon said as it neared them.

"Told ya," Scootaloo smirked, trotting up to the Electric-type, Scootaloo held out her hoof and stopped its rolling.

"Voltorb?" It asked, sounding more than a little upset.

"Hey," She said with a grin. "You wanna have a battle?"

"Char!" Charmander's eyes widened, before he rushed up to Scootaloo, shaking his arms and his head. "Charmander! Char, char!"

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to battle?" Scootaloo asked in confusion.

"Voltorb!" The Electric-type, still held in place by Scootaloo, began to spark.

Charmander's eyes widened and he pushed Scootaloo back a few feet. "What's the-"

"Voltorb!" The Ball Pokémon erupted in a flash of light. When the explosion faded, Scootaloo and Charmander stood there, both covered in soot.

"Ahh!" Sweetie Belle cried. "Why'd it explode?!"

Apple Bloom walked up to the unconscious Pokémon and poked it, causing it to roll a few feet. "Maybe... maybe they're supposed ta do that?"

"Why would anything be meant to explode!" Sweetie shrieked.

"What about dynamite?" Apple Bloom asked.

Before the conversation could progress any further, Scootaloo fell over. "Ow."

"Char?" The Fire-type asked worriedly. "Charmander?"

"You alright Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah... I'm just gonna lie here for a bit, until my ears stop ringing."

Apple Bloom looked to Sweetie Belle, who was already holding up the first aid kit.

"Too bad we already tried Cutie Mark Crusaders Doctors," Sweetie mused.

* * *

"So...who's going next?" Sweetie Belle asked after they finished patching Scootaloo up.

Nobody said anything for a moment. "Ah guess...ah could take a turn," Apple Bloom volunteered. "C'mon, Bulbasaur."

"Bulba…" Bulbasaur looked uncertain, especially after what just happened with the Voltorb, but decided to follow her anyway. After all, it's not like they'd have to worry about something like the Voltorb again...right?

"Okay...let's start out small. Like maybe one of them little bird Pokémon or somethin'," Apple Bloom said as she looked through the bushes, the earlier explosion having scared away all the small Pokémon that had been nearby.

"Saur," Bulbasaur nodded in agreement.

The two of them searched through the bushes, before Apple Bloom came upon an odd looking flower. "What's this?" she muttered as she took a closer look, only for the flower to move forward, revealing a small blue Pokémon that had arms and legs, the strange red puffy flower on its head, and seemed to have just woken up, based on its still seemingly closed eyes and the drool coming from the side of its mouth.

"Gloom?" it asked.

"Well...you look easy enough. Awright, let's go Bulbasaur," Apple Bloom enthusiastically said, just as Bulbasaur got a look at his would be opponent...and paled.

"Bulba bulba! Saur!" he frantically shook his head, while trying to get her to follow him away from the Pokémon.

"What's a matter? It's just a little flower Pokémon," Apple Bloom said in confusion, not understanding WHY Bulbasaur seemed so afraid of something that looked so...dopey. She soon got her answer.

"Gloom Gloom!" the Gloom smiled, before aiming its head at them. "Gloooooom!" it cried as a noxious gas erupted from it…

* * *

"Come on! What's taking Apple Bloom so long?" Scootaloo asked impatiently, as the ringing in her ears had finally stopped. She quickly got her answer as Apple Bloom and Bulbasaur came running out of the bushes...and straight into the nearby lake as they dove head first in. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Charmander, and Squirtle just looked on in confusion, before a noxious smell hit their noses as a small Pokémon stepped out of the bushes.

"Nasty!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shouted as they ran away, all the while covering their noses, Charmander and Squirtle doing the same as they fled from what was easily one of the smelliest Pokémon ever.

* * *

"Squirtle…" Squirtle said apprehensively as he followed Sweetie Belle. After two disastrous first attempts at finding opponents to train with, both Sweetie Belle and Squirtle were more than ready to call it a day and try again another time. However, once again, at the urgings of her friends, Sweetie caved and went along with it...though she was certain to be EXTRA careful on her turn.

"I know, Squirtle. Let's just look around a bit, and then we can go back and say that all the Pokémon around here must have ran off," Sweetie said, earning a nod from the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. However, just as she said that, a nearby bush shook.

Their eyes widening, they quickly backed away, ready to run for it at any moment. What came out of the bush, was a small whitish pink creature that was almost perfectly round with a pair of stubby arms and legs, the two big adorable eyes, and a small microphone in its hand. "Jigglypuff?"

"Awww…" Sweetie gushed at the sight of the adorable Pokémon, while Squirtle gulped, and soon paled in fear when he saw her walk towards the Pokémon.

"Squirtle squirt!" he tried to warn her, but like her friends, she made the mistake of ignoring him.

"Awww, you're overreacting. Look at it. How can anything this cute be dangerous?" Sweetie said, waving off his warning.

"Jigglypuff!" the Pokémon smiled, happy at the compliment, before it raised its microphone to its mouth.

"Awww...look, it wants to sing," Sweetie cooed, while Squirtle was frantically looking for something, anything to jam into his ears, and was soon trying to stuff leaves in. Then the Jigglypuff started to sing…

* * *

"What's takin' her so long? We've been waiting for an hour already," Apple Bloom grumbled as the sheer amount of boredom almost put her to sleep. To her side, Scootaloo was already asleep, while Charmander and Bulbasaur were chasing after some small bugs (not Pokémon) to relieve the boredom. As if on cue, the bushes started shaking, waking up Scootaloo, and a white hoof came out.

"Well, its about time. We've been waiting for you for-" Scootaloo didn't get to finish as she, Apple Bloom, Charmander, and Bulbasaur saw Sweetie's and Squirtle's faces. There was a moment of stunned silence...before the four of them broke out into uncontrollable laughter.

Sweetie Belle and Squirtle just leveled a pair of death glares at them, before stomping away towards the river, intending to wash off the ink that had been scribbled on their faces to make what was easily the most ridiculous look either of them had ever seen. Meanwhile, back in the bushes, the Jigglypuff puffed up in annoyance. "Puff!" it said as it trudged away, looking for someone else to sing to, hopefully one who WOULDN'T fall asleep.

* * *

Twilight sat on one of her reading chairs, frowning as she read over a letter from Seth Crescent, talking about how his friend, Elesa had Evolved a few nights ago.

Twilight was beginning to wonder if the universe was pulling some kind of sick joke on her, it seemed that every time a Pokémon Evolved, or Mega Evolved, she missed it.

"And pretty much all the ones I know are in their final forms," She sighed. Picking up a few sheets of paper, she jotted down some more notes over what she had learned in Manehattan.

After a few minutes, Twilight became absorbed in her work, currently jotting down notes on what Iris had told her about Dragon Pokémon and how they compared to the Dragons of Equus.

Twilight was so invested in her work that, as was usual in this kind of situation, she failed to hear the knock at the door. Once the knocking had stopped, and Twilight still hadn't come to the door, it opened on its own.

"Twilight?" Gene asked, poking his head inside. "You in?"

Twilight didn't answer, she was still completely absorbed in her notes.

"Twilight?" Gene asked, stepping inside. "Twilight you awake?"

She still didn't respond. Gene sighed. "I brought a wheelbarrow of Pokémon stuff."

"Huh?" Twilight looked up from her work and smiled when she saw Gene. "Oh hi Gene, when did you get here?"

Gene smiled. "Not long ago, I was just bringing over some stuff from Rarity."

"Pokémon stuff?" Twilight asked hopefully.

Gene nodded. "Bring it in guys!"

Twilight watched as Fang and pulled in a wheelbarrow filled with what looked like jewels. He was followed by a serpentine being that almost made Twilight jump, until she got a better look and realized it was more like an eel or a sea serpent than a snake.

"First off, Twilight, this is River. She's another one of my Pokémon," Gene introduced.

"Nice to meet you Miss Twilight," River said, holding out her tail. After a moment, Twilight realized this was the closest River could get to a hoofshake.

"It's nice to meet you too River," Twilight replied, shaking River's tail. "If you don't mind me asking, what type of Pokémon are you?"

River smiled. "I'm a Dragonair," She answered.

Twilight smiled and jotted down a few more notes, thanks to her prior learnings, she already knew that a Dragonair was a Dragon-type Pokémon... it was also kind of obvious, being right in the name and all.

"Alright," twilight said, setting down her notepad. "Now, what's with the gems?" She picked up a dark purple one. "These for Spike or something?"

Gene chuckled. "No, these are Evolution Stones, they're-"

"Items that can be used to cause Evolution in certain types of Pokémon." Twilight finished, a smile plastered on her face. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! Where did you get these?" She asked excitedly.

Fang yawned and stretched out on the floor. "Rarity and I found them while we were out hunting for gems."

Twilight lifted up one of the stones in her magic. "What's this one?" She asked.

"That's a Thunder Stone," Gene said.

"And this one?" She held up a second stone.

"Water Stone," River replied.

Twilight was about to ask the same question again when Juniper floated downstairs, a towel wrapped around her waist and another around the top portion of her head. "Oh! Gene, I didn't realize you were here." Juniper pulled the towel around her waist up a little higher.

"Yeah, we were just dropping off some Evolution Stones that Rarity found."

Juniper's eyes lit up. "Evolution Stones? Here? How?"

Gene shrugged. "Beats me, I suppose Arceus probably has something to do with it."

"Hi Juniper," River chimed in. "Gene told me you were a Beheeyem now."

Juniper's shoulders slumped. "I know, still getting use to it." The Pokémon Professor dropped her towel and grabbed her lab coat, which was hanging on a hook near the door. "Anyway, let's have a look at these, shall we?"

Juniper floated over to where Twilight was sorting and examining the stones. The Beheeyem smirked. "Hey River, I think I found something for you," Juniper held up a smooth, gray stone.

Twilight jumped at the opportunity to ask a question. "Why? What's that stone? What does it do?"

Juniper laughed at Twilight's eagerness. "Well Twilight, this is what's referred to as an Everstone. It's a special type of Evolution item as it actually ISN'T an Evolution item. In fact, it's the complete opposite!"

"How so?" Twilight asked curiously. To her, the stone didn't look all that different than the others...except that it didn't have any notable features that denoted a particular element.

"That's because an Everstone is an item that PREVENTS Pokémon from evolving."

Twilight's mouth hung open, she was barely able comprehend how Pokémon were able to Evolve like they did in the first place. Learning that it was possible to prevent Evolution? "H-how?" She began. "How is that possible?"

Juniper stroked her chin. "Something about the minerals that make up an Everstone being able to lock a Pokémon's genetic structure."

Twilight blinked at the stone Juniper was holding. "Wait," She turned to River. "You have another form?"

River nodded. "I could Evolve into a Dragonite," She answered, her head dropping slightly.

"Well," Twilight began. Not noticing the 'please don't ask look' Gene was giving her. "Why don't you want to?"

River's head snapped back up and her eyes locked with Twilight's. "Because I like being the way I am," She said. "Because all the Dragonites I've ever met have been so serious and I just hated it," Twilight took a few steps back. "Because I'm sick of people saying, 'just wait till she evolves, then, watch out!' thinking that I'm not as strong as their Pokémon just because I'm not fully Evolved." River had tears in her eyes. "B-because I'm afraid I won't be myself anymore if I DO evolve."

Gene wrapped an arm around River and pulled her close to him. "It's alright River," He said, stroking her neck. "You know I'd never make you do that."

Twilight turned to Juniper, who sighed. "Twilight... it's not just a Pokémon's form that changes when they Evolve, sometimes, their personality will change too,"

Twilight wanted to ask a question but Juniper stopped her. "In most, they just get more mature, but in some Pokémon, a few Dragon-types especially, the change can be dramatic."

"How dramatic?" Twilight asked.

Juniper developed a sad look. "A trainer came to me once with his Reuniclus after it Evolved from a Duosion, he said he barely even recognized his partner anymore."

"And River?" Twilight asked.

Juniper smiled softly. "She's a big sweetheart, the only time I've ever seen her get angry at all is when someone threatens Gene," The Pokémon Professor frowned again. "But Dragonite are usually more serious, kinda mysterious and not all that open with their emotions."

"Which is the exact opposite of River," Fang supplied. "And why she wants an Everstone."

Twilight looked at the stone she was now holding in her magic. "Are you sure you're not over exaggerating a little bit?" Twilight asked. "I mean, how much did you change when you Evolved?" She asked Fang.

The Houndoom cracked open an eyelid. "I was much more like some of the dogs you have on this world before I Evolved," He stood up, forcing Twilight to look up at him. "I suppose I just matured between then and now, but of our team? Mage wasn't always as infuriatingly intelligent and irritating. Draco is much more protective and honor bound compared to when he was a Vibrava, and Belle's schoolgirl crush turned into true love set deep within her heart."

Twilight looked back at the Everstone, then to River, who was slowly wrapping her coils around her trainer for comfort.

Twilight sighed and walked up it the Dragonair. "River?" She said.

The Dragonair turned away from Gene and looked at Twilight.

"I... I want you to have this." Twilight held out the Everstone. She was still somewhat reluctant to give it up, since it might yield important information about Pokémon. But this was more important.

"R-really?" River asked.

Twilight nodded. "I was just going to scan it, run some experiments to see what kind of minerals and magic it had," She pushed it closer to River. "But you have an actual reason for using it."

River stared, shocked, at Twilight for a second, then smiled. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried, unraveling herself from around Gene and wrapping Twilight in a hug.

"You're... welcome," Twilight gasped.

After a few more seconds, and before Twilight could pass out from lack of air, River released the Alicorn and looked at the Everstone floating in her magic.

"River," Gene said, stepping forward. "I want you to remember that once you do this, you can never Evolve," He knew River wanted this, but he wanted to make sure she understood what she was doing. "I can always hold onto it for you in case you think you might change your mind."

The Dragon Pokémon thought for a second. She looked down her smooth, thin, graceful serpentine body, and thought about the bulky, muscular form of Dragonite. She compared the white fluffy wings on her head to Dragonite's own, as well as the antenna that grew from their head. She thought about how she might not be herself if she ever Evolved.

"I have to do this," She decided. "I just have to be myself."

River leaned forward and touched the Everstone to her horn, after a few seconds, and a small amount of concentration, the Everstone began to glow bright white, as did River.

The gathered beings took a few steps back as the light became almost blinding. After a few more seconds, the glow began to fade. Starting at the tip of River's tail, the light retreated. Once more revealing her serpentine form.

The glow eventually faded into the Everstone, leaving River sitting there, smiling softly. The Everstone clattered to the floor with a gentle thud, Twilight smiled, hoping she would still be able to use the stone for research.

Then the stone dissolved, leaving a grey pile of dust behind. "Didn't know they did that," Gene commented.

"Oh thank you so much!" River said, bringing Twilight in for another hug.

Twilight was about to say it was no trouble, until River gasped and released her. "I've got to go tell Draco!"

The Dragonair practically flew out the door.

Gene smiled. "I'm glad she's not going to lose that," He said. "Come on Fang, let's go check back in with the others."

Fang trotted over to his trainer and the two made their way out of the library. "And Twilight?" Gene said before he left. "Thanks."

Twilight wave goodbye to the two and shut the door behind him. "Alright, now back to the task at hoof," She picked another stone from the pile. "What's this one, and what does it do?"


	39. Chapter 36

It was after midnight when a shadow flew through the Hall of Legends, the shadow moved quickly in the muted light of the ancient temple, shooting past a door with an intricate, forest pattern design, and a deer like being by a spring in the center.

The shadow stopped and backed up. _I must admit, she has an eye for design,_ Darkrai thought as he rose from the shadow on the floor.

The Pitch-Black Pokémon hovered outside the door for a second, silently arguing with himself whether or not to knock. _"I came this far, and I'm not about to give up now."_

Darkrai knocked on the door and waited.

"_-could be at this time of... Darkrai!"_ Virizion said with a smile. _"What brings you here? I haven't seen you around recently."_

Darkrai smiled. _"Hello Virizion, I've been...preoccupied with something. Do you mind if I come in?"_

Virizion nodded and stepped to one side, allowing Darkrai to glide into the room.

"_Something on your mind?"_ Virizion asked, shutting the door behind her.

"_I... remember what we talked about, not long before Arceus was released?"_ Darkrai began.

Virizion's eyes lit up. _"Ooohhh, are you going to ask Cresselia out?"_ She asked almost giddily. _"I heard about what happened on your date,"_

"_It wasn't a date,"_ Darkrai mumbled.

"_What happened that night anyway?"_ From what Cresselia had said, it had seemed like he was going to 'seal the deal' as Meloetta had so eloquently put it.

"_Something... happened,"_ Virizion sighed, whenever Darkrai got purposely vague and mysterious, he would never say what was on his mind.

"_Fine, be vague, now what about Cresselia?"_ Virizion took a sip from the glass of water by her bed.

"_I want to ask her on a date."_

Virizion did a spit take, then coughed out. _"Really?"_ She had never expected Darkrai to actually come out and say that. She thought she'd have to get Mew or Hoopa to help her trick and or blackmail him into going on their first date.

"_Yes really,"_ Darkrai almost snapped. _"Don't sound so surprised."_

"_Sorry,"_ Virizion said with a smile. _"You were saying?"_

Darkrai took a deep breath. _"I... I want to take Cresselia on a date, a real date. I want to apologize for how I've acted in the past and..."_ The Dark-type fidgeted awkwardly for a moment. _"And begin courting her... if she'll have me,"_

Virizion had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from d'awing. Darkrai might be the physical incarnation of darkness and nightmares, but he tried so hard to be social, or at least not terrify the others, and it got downright adorable sometimes, the way he acted.

"_Darkrai, if you want advice, all you have to do is ask."_ Whenever one of the Legendaries had a personal problem, they'd usually talk to Virizion.

The Dark-type sighed. _"Do you think she'll still accept me? After I've played with her emotions for so long."_

Virizion could sense the hurt and the fear in her friends voice. She knew that her families berating him, more tormenting really, over what had happened in Unova years ago had hurt him greatly, but since he rarely visited her after that, she had no idea just how much.

Virizion walked over to Darkrai and nuzzled him. _"Oh Darkrai,"_ She said. _"You know Cresselia was blaming herself after you left? She thought she hadn't done enough to help you."_

Darkrai looked at her in shock. _"She... but I was the one who pushed her away,"_ He said.

"_And why did you do that?"_ Virizion asked.

"_I thought..."_ He began. _"I thought she deserved better."_

Virizion pulled the Pitch-Black Pokémon closer to her. _"And the fact that you did that shows how much you cared."_ Darkrai smiled softly. _"I mean, it was stupid to think she'd consider looking for someone else, but it was a sweet thought."_

Darkrai pushed away from Virizion. _"So what do I do now?"_ He asked. _"How do I make up for centuries of hurt?"_

Virizion smiled. _"With a heartfelt apology, an explanation admitting your own faults, a very romantic evening,"_ She smiled deviously. _"And a little help. Stay here,"_

Virizion walked towards the door, the structure sliding open at her approach. _"Wait here,"_ She ordered._"I'm going to get some help."_

Darkrai was admiring how Virizion had chosen to decorate her room, he especially admired the sparring circle and her indoor spring, when the door opened once again.

"_Virizion where did y-"_ Darkrai stopped when he saw who Virizion had come back with.

Along with the Sword of Justice, Meloetta, Diancie, Shaymin, Celebi, Mesprit, Mew and Victini had entered the room.

"_Nope."_ Was all Darkrai said before attempting to sink into the floor.

"_Oh no you don't!"_ Meloetta cried, dashing forward and grabbing hold of his mane. _"We're here to help you, so no running off."_

The Dark-type grumbled as he solidified. _"Why?"_ He asked, turning to Virizion.

The Grassland Pokémon smiled. _"You want this to be romantic the most romantic night... the second... third... you want this to be one of the most romantic nights of your lives? Then you need help setting it up."_

Darkrai considered asking what Cresselia considered the other two points to be, but decided not to._"But was it necessary to invite all of them?"_

Virizion nodded. _"You know why Meloetta's here, Shaymin will play an important part at the beginning, Mesprit's here to help you sort out all your emotions and figure out exactly WHAT you need to apologize for, Celebi's going to help set everything up, and Diancie and Mew are going to help since they spent a fair amount of time with Cresselia."_

Darkrai thought for a second, then asked. _"And Victini?"_

"_Cause with me on your side, there's no way you'll lose!"_ The Victory Pokémon shouted, winking and giving a 'V' sign as he did.

Several of the gathered Pokémon giggled, including Virizion and Mew. _"Moral support,"_ Mew explained with a laugh. _"And overall group morale."_

"_Plus, we hoped his positive energy would rub off on you,"_ Shaymin added. _"Both the literal and the metaphorical kind."_

"_Enough chit-chat,"_ Mesprit said. _"You guys help Viri plan, Victini? Come with me."_

The Emotion Pokémon pulled Darkrai aside and sat him on Virizion's bed. _"Now, why don't you tell me about some of the worst moments you've had with Cresselia, and we'll go from there."_

Darkrai fidgeted uncomfortably. _"Don't worry dude,"_ Victini said, patting him on the back, _"No one's going to judge you."_

The Dark-type took a deep breath. _"It started long ago, not long after Arceus had created us-"_

* * *

"Well... I'm glad you three came to us, though you really should have done that in the first place," Korrina sighed as she looked down at the three little fillies and their Pokémon.

"Well..." Sweetie Belle began. "We had notes from you and Misty and May, so we thought we'd be able to handle ourselves in a battle."

Korrina shook her head. She should have realized they wouldn't know how to properly start a battle, or which Pokémon were safe for beginners. But she had been blinded since _every kid on Earth_ knew not to attack a Voltorb, and other such basic knowledge.

"There's a big difference between knowing what to do, and applying it to... did you really try to attack a Voltorb?" Lucario asked.

Scootaloo groaned.

The Lucarios couldn't help but smile.

"Anyway," Korrina began. "We'll show you three how it's done, but first we're going to need an opponent...

* * *

They needed an opponent, and they found one. Blaziken stood proud as he focused, his eyes on Lucario. When they asked if he could help, he had jumped at the idea. Helping three young fillies on their path to becoming Pokémon Trainers was a great cause. May had agreed as well, and tagged along.

"Blaziken, May are you two ready?" Korrina asked.

"Yep." May answered.

"Lucario are you ready?"

Lucario smiled at her and nodded.

"Let the match begin," She yelled out. "Lucario, use Bone Rush!"

The CMCs and their Pokémon watched as Lucario attacked with the aura club he conjured, but Blaziken was Fire-type was easily dodging all the attacks so far.

"Blaziken, move in close and use Fire Punch!" May shouted.

Blaziken did so, using Lucario's forward attack to his advantage, he got in close. His fist burst into flames as his attack drew near Lucarios chest.

"Counter!" Korrina yelled as the attack drew closer. Blaziken's attack struck home, only for Lucario to strike him back. But instead of Lucario aiming for Blaziken's chest, he slammed his fist right into Blaziken's jaw.

Blaziken stumbled back and clenched his jaw in pain, Lucario on the other hand put a paw to his chest, but the two of them stood strong. The battle had only just started after all.

"Lay down some hurt with Aura Sphere, and keep it up!" Korrina ordered, planning on a technique they had used before

Lucario concentrated before firing multiple spheres of aura towards the Fire-type. While Blaziken was fast and agile, the sheer number of spheres made it hard to move and get out of the way.

"Time to fight fire with fire, Blaziken! Use Flame Thrower!"

Blaziken opened his mouth and let loose a torrent of flame that intersected most of Lucario's attacks before continuing towards the Aura Pokémon.

The CMCs, along with their Pokémon, watched in awe at the battle. It was completely amazing, like something out of a video game.

Blaziken's attack hit Lucario at the same time one of the remaining Aura Spheres reached its mark. As a result, both Pokémon were knocked backwards a few feet.

Both of them landed on their feet next to their trainers.

Lucario looked to Korrina, Blaziken looked to May, May and Korrina looked to each other. All four of them smirked. "Alright," May said. "I think that's enough for a demonstration."

"What?!" Scootaloo cried. "But I wanna see who wins!"

Korrina turned to Scootaloo and said. "Yeah, but for there to be a real winner, one of them would have to knock the other out," She shrugged. "If Pokémon Centers were still a thing then we _might_ keep going. But since this was just a demonstration, and there aren't even any Oran Berries around here, it's better if we stop now."

The three fillies groaned, as did their Pokémon. "Look on the bright side," Blaziken said. "Now you three get to try out a battle or two on your own."

The CMCs brightened considerably at this, and immediately rushed off with their Pokémon in search of their own opponents.

"Someone should-" Korrina began.

"We'll make sure they don't get into too much trouble," May volunteered. "Could you two head into town and find Pinkie? I heard she somehow got her hooves on actual Berries, not sure how."

Korrina and Lucario nodded and began the walk back towards town.

As the Lucarios disappeared down the path, May sighed. "Come on Blaziken, let's make sure they don't wake up an Onix this time."

* * *

"Alright Bulbasaur!" Apple Bloom called. "Use Vine Whip!"

"Saur!" A pair of vines hot from the Seed Pokémon's back and whipped the Rattata Apple Bloom had chosen for their first battle.

"Rat!" The Mouse Pokémon cried as the attack sent it sprawling backwards. "Rat!" Regaining its footing, the Normal-type ran forward and leapt towards Bulbasaur, intent on sinking its fangs into the Grass-type.

"Quick! Stop it with Razor Leaf!" Apple Bloom ordered.

"Bulbasaur!" At Apple Bloom's command, Bulbasaur fired a stream of sharp edged leaves at the Rattata.

"Rattata!" The Mouse Pokémon fell to the ground and struggled to get to its feet. Just as it looked as if the small Pokémon would stand back up, the Rattata collapsed, its eyes swirly.

"We won!" Apple Bloom cried giddily. "Great work Bulbasaur!" She ran up and hugged the little Grass-type.

"Saur!"

While Apple Bloom and Bulbasaur were celebrating their victory, May smiled, then turned to Sweetie Belle, Squirtle, Scootaloo and Charmander. "Alright, who wants to go next?"

"We do!" Scootaloo said, buzzing her wings in excitement. "Come on Charmander!"

May watched as the pair ran for a patch of tall grass in hopes of finding a Pokémon to battle. She smiled as it reminded her of how she was at the start of her journey... and how her brother had been at the start of his.

"You alright May?" Blaziken asked.

"Yeah," She answered softly. "Just... remembering."

"Got one!" Scootaloo and Charmander rushed out of the grass with a Pidgey following them. The two stopped about ten feet from the Flying-type. "Alright Charmander," Scootaloo began. "Start of with Scratch!"

May had given the CMC's a rundown of what moves their Pokémon could use, it was made easier since she was able to ask the Pokémon directly.

"Char!" The Fire-type ran forward, preparing to wrack its claws across the Pidgey. The Tiny Bird Pokémon had other ideas.

"Pidgey!" The Pokémon turned around and kicked dirt at Charmanders eyes.

"Char!" That attack hit its mark, temporarily blinding the little Fire-type.

Seeing its opportunity, the Pidgey spread its wings and flew straight at Charmander.

"Charmander, use Ember! Straight ahead!" Scootaloo cried.

Still unable to see clearly, Charmander did as he was ordered. "Char!" The Ember attack hit the Pidgey head on, knocking it back a few feet.

"Alright!" Scootaloo cried in excitement. "Now use Ember again!"

"Charmander!" Another Ember attack flew from Charmander's jaw and once again struck the Pidgey.

Scootaloo smirked as the Pidgey attempted to push itself up. "Now use Scratch!"

Once again, Charmander ran forward, intent on hitting his target this time. Seeing him coming, the Pidgey managed to right itself, then began rapidly flapping its wings.

Just before Charmander's attack hit home, the Pidgey launched a Gust attack, knocking Charmander back. "Pidgey!" The Flying-type rose off the ground and shot towards Charmander at a surprising speed for a creature its size.

The Quick Attack served to knock Charmander back further, and kept him from standing up.

"Charmander!" Scootaloo called, worry in her voice. "You alright?"

The Lizard Pokémon gritted his teeth and stood up, looking back at Scootaloo and giving her a thumbs up as he did.

"Alright then," Scootaloo had a split second to decide what move to use next before the Pidgey attacked again. "Use Smokescreen to blind it!"

"Char!" The ball of soot Charmander fired hit just below Pidgey, producing a thick smog that the Flying-type couldn't see through.

Scootaloo could hear the Pidgey's panicked cries, she knew it wouldn't be long before it found its way out. "Alright, try Scratch one more time!" She ordered.

"Char..." The Fire-type's claws glowed white as he ran towards the smoke. Just as he reached it, the Pidgey managed to use its wings to clear the smoke away, just in time for Charmander to jump and wrack his claws straight up the Pidgey's body. "Mander!"

"Pidgey..." The Tiny Bird Pokémon fell backwards and fell to the ground, its eyes swirls.

"Alright!" Scootaloo shouted. "Nice job Charmander!"

May smiled again, watching as Scootaloo and Charmander did their approximation of a high five.

"Well Sweetie Belle," May said. "Guess that just leaves you... where'd she go?"

Blaziken looked down at his side and, seeing that the little filly was no longer around, nor was her Pokémon, he began to looking around for any sign of her. "She seems to have slipped away," Blaziken said.

May sighed. "Alright, you watch those four and make sure they don't hurt themselves, I'll see if I can find Sweetie Belle."

Blaziken nodded and watched as May walked back the way they had came in hopes of finding the unicorn filly. Turning back Blaziken saw that Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Charmander, and Bulbasaur were all looking up at him, smiling. "What should we do now Mister Blaziken?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Sweetie Belle!" May called as she walked down the path. "Squirtle!" No response came. "Where did those two go?" She wondered aloud.

After a few more minutes of walking, May's ears twitched as she heard the faint sound of laughing from off the path.

"I wonder..." Pushing her way through the bushes, the sound of laughing got louder, and she was able to make out Sweetie Belle's voice.

Pushing through the rest of the thicket, May stumbled upon a small pond, where Squirtle and Sweetie Belle were playing in the shallow water. The sight was so adorable May didn't want to interrupt, but Sweetie already noticed her.

"Oh... Hi May!" Sweetie said happily. "Squirtle and I were just playing."

"I can see that," May said with a smile. "But weren't you suppose to be training?"

Sweetie Belle's ears fell flat against her head. "I don't know," She said. "I still don't feel right about making Pokémon fight each other."

May smiled softly and sat down next to the filly. "You know Sweetie? I actually kinda know where you're coming from."

"You do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

May nodded. "I never really wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, I wanted to travel, but I didn't know what I really wanted to do, then I saw my first Pokémon Contest."

"What's that?" Sweetie Belle asked.

May smiled and explained. "A Pokémon Contest is where a Pokémon Coordinator, that's what I am, show how beautiful, and talented their Pokémon are."

"People actually do that?" Sweetie Belle asked.

May nodded. "I nearly won the Grand Festival a few times," May's shoulder slumped. "But I never actually won it."

Sweetie Belle patted her on the back.

May laughed. "Thanks, anyway, I could give you a demonstration if you want?"

The filly nodded. "That sounds like a great idea, right Squirtle?"

"Squirtle, squirt!" The Tiny Turtle Pokémon nodded in agreement.

May nodded. "Alright, come with me."

After a good ten minutes of walking, May led Sweetie Belle and Squirtle to a small field of flowers not far from Fluttershy's house.

The field itself was populated by all manner of Bug-types, mostly Combees but there were also a few Beautifly, Butterfree, and even a few Beedrill and Dustox among others.

"May," Sweetie began. "Not that this isn't pretty and all, but why did you bring us here?"

May smiled. "I needed to pick up an old friend."

Sweetie was about to ask what she meant when a Beautifly landed on May's head. "Uh... May?"

"Yay! May!" The Beautifly chimed. "Heh, heh, that rhymed."

"Hi Beautifly," May said. "Did you miss me?"

"Always," Beautifly said. May had found her a few days after the party, hanging around Fluttershy's house with Skitty. May had been beyond happy to be reunited with two of her first Pokémon, especially since she could understand them now.

Skitty sounded just as hyper as she had expected, and even more cute. Beautifly actually had a very elegant voice, and often spoke in a sing-song tone. "Who's the cute little filly?" Beautifly asked, noticing Sweetie.

"That's Sweetie Belle," May explained. "She's thinking of becoming a Pokémon Coordinator."

Beautifly's eyes lit up. "Oooohhh, do I get to do a demonstration?

May nodded. "Why don't you get ready, and I'll explain things to Sweetie here." The Butterfly Pokémon nodded and took off, considering which routine she would use.

May turned to Sweetie Belle, who had a confused look on her face. "Beautifly is one of my Pokémon from back on Earth," May explained. "And she's going to give you a little picture of what a Pokémon Contest is like."

"Ohhh," Sweetie exclaimed. "Neat!"

"May!" Beautifly called. "I'm ready!"

May, Sweetie Belle and Squirtle turned to see that Beautifly had cleared out a portion of the field and was hovering in the center.

"Presenting, for your viewing pleasure, the amazing Beautifly!" Beautifly introduced herself.

May rolled her eyes.

Beautifly flared her wings and caused some of the dust that covered them to fly off, refracting the sunlight around her. "String Shot!"

Turning in a semicircle, Beautifly fired a thin stream of silk from her proboscis. The silk caught some of the dust and shined in the sunlight as it slowly drifted to the ground.

Sweetie watched in awe as Beautifly used a Gust attack to whip up some of the flower petals from the field below, a continuous use of the attack held them in an orbit around the Butterfly Pokémon for a few seconds before she flared her wings and cried. "Morning Sun!"

Sweetie's jaw dropped as Beautifly's wings glowed bright yellow whilst the flower petals fell around her. Squirtle was likewise shocked silent.

Beautifly smiled at the wide eyed youngsters below her. _Time to go out big,_ She thought.

"Silver Wind!"

Beautiful streams of silver dust spread from Beautifly's wings, and as Sweetie and Squirtle watched in awe, Beautifly began to spin. This motion caused the Silver Wind to swirl around Beautifly, forming a kind of cloak around the Pokémon.

"Wow," Sweetie said in a hushed tone.

Just before the cloak completely closed around Beautifly, she stopped spinning and used Gust to disperse the dust.

Ending with a small midair bow, Beautifly fluttered back down to May and landed atop her head again. "So?" She asked. "How was I?"

May smiled and rubbed Beautifly on the head. "You were great Beautifly," She looked at Sweetie Belle and smiled. "And I'm not the only one who thinks so."

Sweetie Belle was completely silent, her brain still processing what she had just seen. "What did you think?" May asked.

Sweetie turned her gaze to May, a grin covering her face. "Cutie Mark Crusader Pokémon Coordinator!" She blinked once and looked around. "That felt weird without Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

May smiled and kneeled down next to the filly. "Don't worry," She said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll tell them your decision together," Sweetie smiled. "Now, why don't we go find your friends, and I'll tell you about some of my contests?"

Sweetie Belle couldn't say yes fast enough.

* * *

In the interest of not accidentally starting a fire where anyone could get hurt, or where there would be serious property damage, Korrina and May had decided to have the battle a fair distance from town. This unfortunately meant that Lucario and Korrina had a good deal of walking to do before they got back to Ponyville.

This, coupled with the fact that Korrina still felt awful about what had happened in Manehattan, had made the walk so far silent, and awkward.

"Korrina," Lucario began. "Are you alright?"

Korrina turned to look at Lucario, and noted that he was mostly healed thanks to the natural fast healing abilities of a Pokémon, as well as due to Korrina occasionally giving him a Heal Pulse to help it along (these were a bit less effective than a normal Heal Pulse). But he still had a few bruises here and there, and when Korrina's eyes fell on one she winced.

"I'm fine," She lied, turning away from her partner.

Lucario frowned. "Korrina, I can tell when you're lying to me without using Aura Sight," When Korrina didn't say anything, Lucario put a paw on her shoulder and stopped her. "Korrina, talk to me. Arceus knows you couldn't before."

Korrina pushed his paw off and sighed. "I can't stop thinking about Manehattan," She admitted. "I should have been able to tell she was that strong, and I yet I still let you battle her," He ears drooped. "I didn't even help."

Lucario looked at her in confusion. "If you had tried to intervene she probably would have attacked you too!"

Korrina shook her head. "I'm suppose to help you. I should have at least given more warnings or advice or..." Korrina turned away from Lucario.

"You're not human anymore Korrina," Lucario reminded her. "If you _had_ Elena would have seen it the same as if you attacked for me."

"I still should have done something!" Korrina shouted, causing him to stumble back in surprise. "You're my partner... I'm not suppose to let that happen to you..."

"Korrina, listen to me," Lucario said, grabbing her shoulders. "There was nothing you could have done. I made the choice to battle Elena, not you." He smiled. "Besides, you healed me. That more than makes up for any fault you had in the matter."

Korrina looked at Lucario in surprise. "How can you say that?" Korrina asked. "How can you just shrug it off? How come you don't... you don't blame me..." She recalled what Gene had said the night Lucario had been injured.

"It. Wasn't. Your. Fault," Lucario restated, putting emphasis on each word. "I knew what might happen when I went into the battle."

For some reason, this seemed to push Korrina over the edge. "Then why did you battle her?!" She shouted. "Just because I volunteered to check out the back didn't mean you _had_ to come with. You don't have to follow me everywhere! I-" She choked. "I'm not your trainer anymore."

Lucario looked visibly hurt at that statement, and released his grip on Korrina as a result. "Don't say that," He said quietly. "You'll always be my trainer..."

Korrina turned away. "No," She said. "I can't, I don't care what you say, if I was your trainer, then I would have at least helped you in that battle."

Korrina began to walk away, but Lucario wasn't going to let that happen. Not like this. He grabbed Korrina's arm, and before she could react, pulled her back to him. Before she knew what was happening, Lucario had pressed his muzzle to hers.

For a moment, Lucario held her there, locked in a kiss. Once he finally released his grip and broke the kiss, he said. "Even if you're not my trainer," He pressed his paw to hers for a second. "You will always be my partner."

With that Lucario broke away from Korrina and continued back towards Ponyville. Korrina stood there for a moment, frozen. "I-I... th-that... he..." She touched a paw to her lips, still not believing what had just transpired, not sure what to think.


	40. Chapter 37

Elena, Nick, Terra, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia walked down the empty streets of Ponyville, Nick looking from the note in his paws to the various buildings, trying to find the one indicated in the note.

Earlier that day, a note had been dropped off at Vinyl and Octavia's shared residence. It had asked the group to meet at town hall at seven.

Vinyl and Octavia had guessed that it was probably the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party that Pinkie was throwing for them.

Nick and Elena had originally been against the idea, Elena more so than Nick, but Vinyl had told them that no one could escape a Pinkie Party for long, and Terra wanted to go.

The pair had finally relented, saying they'd go but wouldn't stay for long. Terra had been happy to hear it, and had then, unbeknownst to anyone, had snuck off to procure some supplies. And some help.

"There's town hall," Vinyl pointed out as the building came into view. "Come on, I'm sure Pinkie's already got half the town in there."

Nick was slightly nervous at the thought of meeting so many new ponies, and was glad Elena and Terra were with him.

Elena was still wary of how many of the ponies and Pokemon from Manehattan were going to be there.

Terra was... smiling. Rather devilishly in fact.

"Let's just go in, introduce ourselves, and then head back to your house," Elena said.

"Alright," Vinyl said. "But this is a Pinkie Party. You might not want to leave."

Vinyl Scratch pushed the door open and was greeted by a dark and seemingly empty room.

"You sure this is the right-"

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie Pie, accompanied by what looked to be half the town, as well as a few Pokemon, jumped from various hiding places around the room. And the lights turned on to reveal a full party spread.

Nick, who had began to cloak himself and his friends with an illusion at the sudden shout, dropped his forming illusion, while Elena, who had struck up a battle ready pose, lowered her fists... slightly.

"I'm so, so, sooo, glad you guys came!" Pinkie said, rushing up to the group, Zap floating at her side. "At first I thought you wouldn't come because you were still mad, then I thought about bringing the party to your house so you couldn't miss it, but Twilight said that'd be 'invasion of private property', so I set everything up here and," Pinkie squealed. "I'm just soooo glad you're here!"

Pinkie pulled Nick, Elena, and Terra into a hug. As it had turned out, Twilight had been right. It was impossible to stay mad at Pinkie Pie for long.

Once Pinkie released the trio, she gave them a quick rundown of who had come and what the nights itinerary was. Elena was slightly perturbed to hear that everyone they had met in Manehattan had come, but she tried to put it aside... for now.

After a few minutes, Pinkie excused herself, saying she had to check on some things, and had run off, her Rotom following behind her.

"Well," Terra began. "I'm going to go socialize. You two should make out-I mean make up! Make up with some of the others."

On that note, with Elena glaring at her, the Mawile slipped into the crowd of ponies.

Nick and Elena watched as Terra ran off. "She's up to something," Elena said.

"Maybe," Vinyl said. "But then again, she does seem like the type who'd enjoy a party like this."

"Unless she actually does anything, I don't think we should worry ourselves too much," Nick said. "Pinkie Pie's right, we should try to enjoy ourselves."

Elena looked at Nick incredulously. "Nick... I don't know, I still don't trust these people."

Nick smiled softly and put a paw on her shoulder. "I know, but we're going to be in Ponyville for awhile, so we should at least try to get along with these people."

Elena looked at him. "Nick..."

"Ellie..."

"... Fine," Elena said. "But I'm still not sure about this."

Nick smiled and he and Elena went deeper into the party, and while they met a bunch of ponies, they didn't encounter anyone from Manehattan. Not until a little later.

"I don't want to," Belle said, crossing her arms.

Gene put a hand on his fiance's. "I know you're mad that Terra attacked me," Gene said. "And that she attacked you, but you have to admit," He sighed. "We _were_ the ones at fault."

Belle didn't say anything, instead she looked to where Elena and Nick were talking with Applejack.

"Please Belle?" Gene asked. "I don't want there to be anymore bad blood for us here then there has to be."

The Gardevoir looked at Gene, a pleading smile on his face. "Oh... alright," She sighed. "But don't expect me to trust her."

Gene smiled and lead his mate over to them. "Hi Applejack," Gene greeted. "Nick, Elena."

"Howdy Gene, Belle," Applejack said with a smile. "I was just welcomin' Nick an' Elena here ta town."

"Actually, I was hoping that Belle and I could talk to them for a minute," Gene said, hoping she would catch on.

Applejack looked at the Gallade for a second, confused, then shrugged. "Alright, guess I'll just go mingle then." Applejack said her goodbyes and trotted off.

Gene smiled nervously at the Zoroark and Lucario. "So um, Belle and I had something we wanted to say, isn't that right love?"

Belle looked at the two for a second, then sighed. "I'm... sorry."

"We both are," Gene added. "Of all people, we should've known better than to jump to any conclusions."

"What does that mean?" Elena asked, earning her a glare from Belle.

"Gene and I are mates," Belle replied.

"And I use to be human," Gene added. They hadn't really explained... anything about themselves, to Nick, Elena, or Terra on the way back from Manehattan.

"Oh," Nick said, eyes wide in understanding.

"So you'll have to forgive me if I act a little overprotective of Gene," Belle said, looking at Elena.

Elena glanced at Nick for a second, then sighed. "I know the feeling,"

Gene smiled. "Anyway, how have you two been enjoying Ponyville?"

Nick smiled. "It's been great so far, and all the ponies seems so... accepting," That was what had surprised Nick the most, he had assumed a small town would have been more apprehensive about such a big change as the Pokemon.

Belle chuckled. "From what Twilight's told us, Ponyville is use to weird things, plus Pinkie threw a huge party a few days ago," She smiled. "Even Arceus showed up."

The four of them talked for awhile, until Belle and Gene excused themselves, Gene saying he was going to make sure Mage wasn't getting herself into any trouble.

"They seem... nice," Nick ventured, though he still wasn't completely ready to forgive everyone for what had happened in Manehattan...but he figured he'd give them a chance.

"Yeah, I guess," Elena agreed. The whole time they had been talking, she had reached out with her Aura Sense, and had seen that both Gene and Belle had been sincere.

For a moment the pair stood there, unsure of what to do next. "So…" he started, thinking of something to do. "You want some punch?" Nick asked.

"Sure," she smiled.

* * *

As Terra ran off, leaving Nick and Elena by themselves for the moment, she looked around the party for someone who was suppose to meet her here. "Where are you?" She whispered.

"Looking for someone?" A voice said from above her.

Terra looked up to see Mage floating above her head, smiling.

"Did you finish it?" Terra asked impatiently.

Mage rolled her eyes and floated down to Terra's level. "You know, you could say hello first."

"Hello," Terra deadpanned. "Did you finish it?"

Mage scoffed. "I don't know why I'm even helping you," She mumbled, before floating a vial of some brown liquid from beneath her cloak. "Here."

Terra smiled as she took the vial. "So what did you decide on?"

"A mix of both alcohol and aphrodisiac. One drink of this, and they may as well be drinking Love Potion." Mage had actually tried to find a Love Potion recipe in the library, but Twilight had been... less than helpful.

Terra grinned. "Excellent, now we just have to wait for the right moment and bang!"

"Isn't it bam?" Mage asked.

"Not this time," Terra smirked.

Mage blinked once, stared at terra, then chuckled. "You're a crude little fairy aren't you?"

Terra hmf'd and turned away from Mage. "Whatever, now come on, we have to spike the punch before they get any."

Terra and Mage made their way to the punch table, once there, Mage turned invisible and floated above the crowd and spotted the soon to be couple.

"Looks like they're headed this way," Mage whispered to Terra.

"Perfect," Terra rubbed her hands together. "Soon Nick and Ellie will be closer than ever, and my nieces or nephews will be on the way."

Mage developed on contemplative look. "I wonder if I'm going to be an aunt soon." She blinked once. "If not, it certainly wouldn't be from lack of trying."

"Shhh! Here they come!" Terra hopped up onto the table and uncapped the vial. "Here we go." She poured the liquid into the punch and used the ladle to mix it throughout.

"Get down!" Mage cried as the pair approached.

Terra ducked under the table, grinning like a mad man. "Yes!" She pumped her fists, then went to give Mage a high five.

"Still no hands," Mage deadpanned.

Terra chuckled awkwardly, then peeked out from under the table cloth. As her friends made their way to the table, she began a mental countdown. _Ten, nine, eight, seve-_ "Where are they going?!"

* * *

Nick and Elena were on their way to the punch bowl, just chatting, when they were interrupted by something peculiar at the edge of the room.

Lucario and Korrina were both standing there, facing each other, and by the looks of things, their conversation wasn't entirely pleasant.

"Lucario..." Korrina began, pulling the Aura Pokemon aside. "I need to talk to you."

Lucario stood there patiently as Korrina sighed and asked. "Lucario... why did you kiss me back there?"

Lucario sighed. "Korrina... I can't stand seeing you upset like that," He explained.

"You've used your aura power to calm me down before," Korrina said with crossed arms.

"True," Lucario said. "But this time you were upset with me."

"I wasn't..." Korrina began, but stopped herself, if she was being really truthful with herself... she _had_been a little upset with Lucario at the time.

"And... I care about you... a lot," Lucario said softly.

Korrina glared at him for a second. "You know... there are other ways you could have shown it." She muttered something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like "My first kiss".

Lucario sighed. "I know. Its just that…" he sighed again. "Ever since we came here…" he started, trying to find the words for it.

"Umm... are you two alright?" Lucario's train of thought was derailed once he noticed that Nick and Elena, the latter crossing her arms and glaring at him, had walked over to them.

Korrina returned Elena's glare. "We're kinda having a private conversation here," She said impatiently.

"I told you we shouldn't have bothered," Elena huffed in annoyance.

"No, really," Lucario said. "This is a very personal matter for us, and we'd appreciate it if-"

"Heeey guys," Terra said, walking up behind her friends. "Why don't we leave these two lovebirds alone and have a little pu-" The Mawile's eyes widened as she looked back at the punch bowl and saw Vinyl and Octavia there, both drinking a cup of the punch. Mage floated nearby, looking from the mares to Terra. The Mismagius quickly disappeared.

"Oh crap," Terra gulped.

"Terra?" Nick asked. "Are you alright?"

The Steel-type weighed her options and put on a smile. "Yeah, now why don't we go get some punch?"

Before the two could object, she began dragging the Zoroark and Lucario towards the punch bowl.

Korrina and Lucario stood there, the former Gym Leader still shocked from the Mawile's words. "I... we're not..." She stuttered, her mind trying to form a coherent thought, before it became too much for her, and she turned and ran away.

"Korrina!" Lucario cried, following after her.

* * *

"Terra... what did you do?" Elena asked, arms crossed.

"Nothing," The Mawile lied. "I did nothing."

"Then what's wrong with Vinyl and Octavia?" Elena asked.

Both mares were standing by the punch bowl, laughing their heads off and acting as if they were drunk.

Nick looked down at the punch Terra had just given to him and Elena. Then at the cups in the hooves of the drunken mares.

He took Elena's drink from her and dropped both into a nearby trashcan. "Now that that's cleared up," He turned to Terra, who was now frowning. "Do you want to tell us what happened?"

Terra thought for a second. "Nope," She turned around and ran off before either of her friends could stop her.

"Terra!" Elena shouted, before she and Nick quickly ran after the Mawile.

* * *

"I think the punch has been... spiked!" Pinkie said.

"This is serious Pinkie," Rainbow told her friend.

"I know, now there's no punch for anyone else!" Pinkie pouted.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "Look, you dump the punch I'll... where did Octavia and Vinyl go?"

The two drunken mares had JUST been conversing near the punch bowl. Now they were gone. "Ugg," Dash shook her head. "Alright, _I'll_ dump the punch, you find them or get Belle to track them down or something before they do anything stupid."

Dash flew over to the punch bowl and grabbed the tainted drink, planning to dump it in the bushes outside. "Don't worry Dashie," Pinkie said as Dash flew towards the door. "It's just two ponies, and one of them's Tavi, what harm could they do?"

* * *

"You know my dear," Octavia said, leaning against her 'dear'. "I never realized just how handsome you were."

"Uh... th-thanks?"

"Mm hmm, those eyes of yours are just the loveliest shade of green," She drawled.

"Yeaaahh."

"And your scales," Octavia ran her hoof down the spines on Spike's back.

"Uhh," Spike blushed profusely. "Octavia? Are you feeling alright?"

"I've never felt better my darling," Octavia said musically.

Spike laughed nervously and tried to escape Octavia's grasp, but despite being a high class mare, Octavia was still an Earth Pony, and was surprisingly strong.

"Help..." Spike called weakly.

While Spike continued to struggle, Octavia continued to snuggle. Until Twilight, who had been searching for her number one assistant, finally managed to find him.

"Spike?" Twilight asked, staring at the sight before her. "What's going on?"

"Oh Princess Twilight," Octavia let Spike go and stood up, swaying as she did. "I was just complimenting Spike here on what a handsome young Dragon he's grown into."

Twilight blinked once and looked to Spike. He mouthed the words 'help me'.

Twilight saw the distressed look on Spike's face, and the look Octavia was giving him. Her eye twitched. "Octavia," Twilight said calmly. Too calmly. "Why don't you and I have a little chat back at the library?"

* * *

"Come along now Vinyl," Rarity said, leading the drunken and soaking Unicorn out of the fountain.

"But *hic* I was about ta... ta seal the deal," She grinned back at Aloe and Lotus, both of whom waved at her.

"That's wonderful Vinyl," Rarity took a towel from Pinkie and whispered. "Get Aloe and Lotus home."

Pinkie saluted and trotted over to the sisters. They had also had a little too much to drink...but weren't nearly as drunk as Vinyl was. "What even compelled you to.."

"To make out with a pair of hot twin sisters?" Vinyl asked, her glasses sliding down her muzzle. "Don't ask me how, but I just *hic* just made two hundred bits for charity."

Rarity sighed. "Vinyl dear, I'm going to take you home soon. But first, could you please tell me why you seem so... loose?"

"I'm drunk of my ass!" Vinyl shouted.

Rarity bit her lip. She wished that it was later, as most of the partygoers were still present...including quite a few foals...

"This party had great punch," Vinyl said, leaning against Rarity for support. Vinyl laughed. "Hey, hey Rarity?" Vinyl said. "Hey Rarity? You're pretty cute, ya know that?"

Rarity smiled and nodded. She was going to have to come back after she got Vinyl home, hopefully they'd be able to figure out who was responsible for Vinyl's... antics.

* * *

"Alright you," Elena said, jabbing Terra's chest. "Spill."

The Mawile scoffed. "You can't make me talk, you have no proof that I did anything."

"You were about to give Nick and I the punch before Vinyl Scratch and Octavia started acting like that," The Lucario said. "And, knowing you and how you kept trying to... set us up, back in Manehattan, I'm certain you had a hand in this."

The Mawile was sat in a chair in the center of the room, with Nick, Elena, Pinkie, Applejack, Belle, and Gene gathered around her.

"But I know you couldn't have made whatever you put in the punch," Elena said. "So, who helped you?"

"It was Mage, wasn't it?" Gene asked. "She loves mischief...and potions."

"I'll never reveal my fellow conspirator's true identity!" Terra cried, crossing her arms.

"So... you admit you tried to drug us then?" Nick asked.

Terra's eyes widened. "Uhh... it was the Mismagius. She tricked me!" So much for loyalty.

"I did not, you traitor!" Mage said as she faded in behind the Mawile, startling several of the rooms occupants. "You asked me to make you something that would remove their inhibitions, and Twilight wouldn't let me make a love potion!"

"Mage!" Gene shouted. "What the heck?"

The Mismagius stuck her tongue out. "I was assisting in a quest for true love!" Mage defended. "Besides I never got a chance to try any plans on you two before you became mates."

"Wait, you had plans?" Belle asked.

"That's beside the point," Mage answered.

Gene facepalmed. "Mage... what the heck did you make?"

The Mismagius looked down. "Some Berry Juice I got from a Shuckle, mixed with some normal alcohol I, ahem, borrowed, from that Berry mare's bar, and some aphrodisiacs I got from Zecora."

"Why in tarnations would Zecora give you any aphra-aphri-... what's that then?" Applejack asked.

"She was trying to make Nick and I... umm," Elena blushed.

"Make the beast with two backs," Terra interjected.

"Oookay, you're in time out," Gene grabbed Mage by her hat. "Come on, you and I are going to have a long talk when we get back to Rarity's."

"Aww!" Mage cried.

Belle made to leave, but stopped next to Elena, a sheepish smile on her face. "She had your best interest at heart," The Gardevoir offered in consolation.

The grunt she received from Elena told her that the Lucario was not pleased.

Belle rolled her eyes and followed her fiance out of the building.

"Look, I REALLY don't want to talk about this here," Nick said, eyeing the ponies. "Let's head back to Vinyl and Octavia's and..." He looked at Terra.

The Mawile smiled nervously, but stopped when Elena glared at her.

As the three of them left the building, one of them running over escape plans in her mind, Applejack sighed. "That got... weird."

Pinkie scratched her chin and looked around.

"Pinkie? Are ya'll listenin' ta me?" Applejack asked.

"Twilight left with Octavia just before we got Vinyl out of the fountain," Pinkie said. "I wonder where they went?"

* * *

Darkrai paced back and forth nervously at the entrance to Cresselia's room. _"I can do this,"_ His pacing was him floating back and forth more than anything else, since he lacked legs. _"I can do this,"_ In his hand he held a single pink rose, courtesy of Shaymin. _"I can do this,"_

"_Oh for crying out loud!"_ Meloetta shouted from behind before rushing forward and banging on the ornate, gold and pink stylized door that marked the entrance to Cresselia's room.

As quickly as she had flown up, Meloetta flew back to her hiding place. _"You're on!"_ Meloetta cried.

"_Why you little..."_ Darkrai began.

"_Hello?"_ The Dark-type paused as a familiar and melodic voice rang as the door opened. _"Darkrai?"_

Darkrai cleared his throat. _"Cresselia, it's nice to- it's nice to see you,"_ He cleared his throat and continued. _"How are you?"_

"_Oh I'm... ok,"_ Cresselia said unconvincingly, she was honestly still upset about how Darkrai had left her their first night here. _"What are you..."_ Her eyes widened as she saw the rose in Darkrai's hand. _"I-is that for me?"_ She asked hopefully.

"_I Um, well, it's, I was going to,"_ The Pitch-Black Pokemon took a deep breath before holding the rose out to Cresselia. _"Yes, it is, and... I wanted to ask you something."_ Cresselia took the rose in a psychic hold and smelled it. She smiled softly and looked back to Darkrai.

"_Would you, if you don't have any other plans that is,"_ Darkrai gulped and said. _"Would you like to go on a date? With... me?"_

Cresselia stared at Darkrai in disbelief. The Dark-type who had stolen her heart all those years ago had never been this forward before. _"You... you really mean it? This isn't a joke?"_

Darkrai looked shocked at the accusation. _"I would never joke about this,"_ He assured her.

Cresselia heard the hurt in his voice and tried to correct herself. _"No, I didn't mean... this is just so unlike you."_

"_I know,"_ Darkrai said sadly. _"And I'm sorry about how things have been between us,"_ Cresselia looked away from him for a second. _"But,"_ He continued. _"If you're willing to give me one last chance,"_ He looked Cresselia directly in the eyes and said. _"I swear I'll make it up to you."_

Cresselia stared at Darkrai for a moment, then smiled before flying forward and wrapping her wings around him the best she could. _"Ooh, of course I am,"_ She said happily. _"But no running off this time."_

Darkrai smiled. _"I wouldn't dream of it,"_ He said.

Cresselia giggled. _"So... what did you have in mind?"_ She asked.

"_It's a surprise,"_ He said. _It certainly surprised me._

* * *

Cresselia looked around the restaurant Darkrai had brought her to for their date. _"Ok,"_ She said with a smile. _"How did you get a reservation here?"_

Darkrai thought back to the night before, when the other Legendaries were helping him prepare, Virizion had asked where he had been the past few nights, and why he was only asking her for help now. Darkrai had revealed his dealings with Princess Luna, how she was helping him control his powers using Equestrian magic.

After A LOT of congratulations, Celebi had flitted off to Canterlot Castle to talk with Luna about Darkrai's date. She had come back with a reservation for two at one of Canterlot's most prestigious restaurants.

"_I have my ways,"_ He said mysteriously, then looked back at his menu. _"I think I'll have the fruit salad,"_ He mused, he had never actually been to a restaurant before, but he knew he liked fruit.

"_I think I'll have the fish,"_ Cresselia said. _"And don't change the subject, how did you get a reservation here?"_

Darkrai smiled. _"I met a pony who has connections when I left the temple one night, we got to talking and she agreed to help me with my... problem,"_

Cresselia smiled. _"She, huh?"_ The Lunar Pokemon asked. _"I don't have to be afraid of competition do I?"_

"_Never,"_ Darkrai answered immediately. _"I'll only ever have eyes for you, my lady."_

Cresselia blushed slightly, Darkrai had never been this... open, before. Not that Cresselia minded, she kinda liked it actually.

"Ahem, excuse me... madam?" Cresselia turned to see a unicorn waiter with a handlebar moustache standing by their table. "Are you and the... gentlemen?" Darkrai nodded. "Ready to order?"

"_Yes, I'll have the fruit salad and the lady will have..."_ Darkrai tapped his chin. _"Which fish would you suggest?"_

The waiter blinked once, then answered. "If I might suggest the fried tilapia, served with a side of-"

"_That sound delicious,"_ Cresselia stopped him, she didn't know what a tilapia was, but she wanted to continue her chat with Darkrai.

"Very well," He jotted down their order. "Your order will be out shortly." He turned and left.

"_So, you said this friend of yours was helping you with a problem,"_ Cresselia continued. _"It wasn't how to tell a girl you like her, was it?"_

Darkrai chuckled. _"No, it was... my powers,"_ Virizion had told him to be completely truthful with Cresselia on this date, and he intended to do just that.

"_Really?"_ Cresselia asked, Darkrai almost never talked about his powers with the other Legendaries, let alone normal Pokemon or humans, why was a Pony any different? _"Well how'd you meet this mare? And how did she help you?"_ Cresselia was part curious, part jealous.

Darkrai raised an eyebrow. _"We met after an... an incident, involving the dreamscape, she's quite well versed in the use of dream magic and she's been using Equestrian magic to help me control my nightmare powers."_ He explained. _"We've actually made a fair amount of progress."_

"_How so?"_ Cresselia asked.

Darkrai smiled. _"Your energy isn't what's holding it back,"_

Cresselia stared at him in disbelief for a second, but she knew he wouldn't lie about this. _"Darkrai that's... that's wonderful!"_ Cresselia exclaimed. _"Who is this mare? Can I meet her? I have to thank her for helping you."_

Darkrai chuckled. _"I'm sure you two will meet soon enough, for now, why don't we just enjoy our meal?"_ As he said that, their waiter walked back carrying their orders.

After handing out the dishes, the pony asked. "Will there be anything else?"

Darkrai thought for a second, then smiled. _"I'd like to order two pieces of chocolate cake for dessert, if you have any,"_

The stallion nodded and wrote down the order before trotting off.

Cresselia smiled. _"I love chocolate."_

Darkrai looked at her and said. _"I know."_

* * *

"_-So I grab the Pokeball in a Psychic, and toss it back at him,"_ Cresselia said with a laugh. _"It bounced off his head and he just stood there, staring at it like it was broken while I floated off."_

Darkrai chuckled. He and Cresselia had been swapping stories and basically just talking for the past hour. In Darkrai's opinion, it had been wonderful.

"_Cresselia,"_ He asked, _"why don't we continue our date outside, perhaps a nice moonlit stroll around Canterlot?"_

Cresselia smiled softly. _"That sounds... really nice,"_ She answered.

Darkrai smiled and pushed out his chair. _"Then come my lady, for a night under the stars awaits,"_

Cresselia smiled and floated over to him, then she realized something. _"How are we going to pay for this?"_ She asked worriedly.

Darkrai smiled and pulled a slip of paper from the shadows. _"Courtesy of a friend,"_ Darkrai placed the paper on the table and gestured towards the door. _"After you."_

Cresselia smiled, but as the pair left the restaurant, she glanced back at the table and raised an eyebrow at the paper Darkrai had left. She couldn't read the words, but she could make out a crescent moon stamp in the top left corner.

* * *

"_Darkrai,"_ Cresselia gasped at the sight before her. _"This is... beautiful."_

"_I thought you'd like it,"_ Darkrai said.

Darkrai and Cresselia were currently floating above a little wooden bridge in the Canterlot Gardens, looking out over a pond that reflected the moon and the stars like a mirror.

"_The sky looks lovely tonight,"_ Cresselia said, slightly in awe at just how big and bright the moon seemed, and how each star stood out against the dark space behind it.

Darkrai smiled. _"It truly is,"_ He looked at Cresselia and saw how her wings sparkled in the moonlight, how the moonlight glinted off her gold horns. Before he even knew what he was saying, he added. _"But nowhere near as beautiful as you look tonight."_

Cresselia looked at Darkrai in surprise, she almost laughed when she saw the blush lighting up his black face. _"That's very sweet of you Darkrai,"_ Cresselia said, floating a little closer to the Pitch-Black Pokemon.

Darkrai smiled as he felt Cresselia brush up against him. But... he didn't feel right. _"Cresselia, there's something I need to tell you,"_

Cresselia looked at him. _"What is it?"_

Darkrai took a deep breath and began to explain everything, how he'd met Princess Luna, how she'd helped him, how she had given him the push he needed to ask her out, how the other Legendaries had helped him set up the date, everything.

Once Darkrai was finished, he sighed. _"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to deceive you... again,"_ He said sadly.

This time, Cresselia giggled a little. _"Oh Darkrai,"_ She said sweetly. _"You didn't need to tell me you had help setting up the date. I assumed the others had helped you set it up from the beginning,"_ She admitted.

"_You did?"_ Darkrai asked.

"_Of course silly,"_ She said jokingly. _"You're a great guy Darkrai, but you've always been kinda clueless when it came to romance."_

Darkrai's gaze fell to his reflection in the pond.

Cresselia sighed. _"But that's just another thing I love about you,"_ She said.

"_What?"_ That had confused the Dark-type a fair deal.

"_I deal with love remember?"_ Cresselia reminded him. _"You think everything has to be perfect, or that you can't ask others for help,"_ She floated close to him again. _"But I don't care about perfection, and there's no shame in asking for help,"_ Cresselia was blushing now. _"All I care about is that I'm here, with you, right now."_

Cresselia was right next to Darkrai now, her wings brushing against the shreds of his cloth as she pressed close to him.

"_Cresselia,"_ Darkrai said. _"I... I'm sorry, for toying with you all these years, for dragging you along while I tried to-"_

"_Oh hush you,"_ Cresselia. _"No brooding over the past tonight, ok?"_

Darkrai smiled and hesitantly put an arm around Cresselia. _"Ok,"_ He agreed.

The pair floated there looking out over the glassy surface of the pond and at the beautiful sky it reflected until late that night, wrapped in each others embrace until they returned home.


	41. Chapter 38

It was early morning, no later than nine, when Cheerilee entered Ponyville schoolhouse with a sigh. She loved her job like nothing else in the world, but in a town like Ponyville, things could get... hectic.

For example, when a thousand year old force of darkness returns from the moon, school ends up cancelled for the next few days.

Or when a former lawn ornament (secretly a chaos lord) breaks loose and literally turns the country upside down. School was cancelled for the week to make sure there weren't any side effects.

Or when an interdimensional god from another world decides to move his entire race to Equus...well, that wasn't so bad since the Pokémon were really quite nice, like that blue lion that played with the foals about a week ago, and at least school didn't have to be cancelled for more than a day this time.

Cheerilee smiled as she flipped the light switch and went to her desk to prepare for todays lesson. She looked over the days criteria and frowned. It all seemed so... normal, compared to what had happened over the past week. "I should see about teaching a lesson on Pokémon," She mused. It certainly would be an interesting lesson, plus she heard that the Pokémon living with Twilight used to be a Professor who studied Pokémon, so maybe she could help with that lesson.

Before Cheerilee could think any further on the subject, the schoolhouse lights flickered. "And I need to see the Mayor about getting an electrician out here. The lighting has been on the fritz all week," Cheerilee shook her head as she walked over to the wall where the light switch was, giving it a firm buck. The lights stopped flickering, and Cheerilee smiled. Until she heard something behind her hit the ground with a thud.

The Earth Pony turned around to see what had caused the noise, before letting out a high pitched scream and running from the building. Ah yes...this was the downside of the new arrivals. Some of them just plain scared her.

* * *

As Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and their respective Pokémon made their way to yet another day of school (the Pokémon had started to enjoy going to school too, and it certainly made class more interesting), each trio talked amongst themselves, mostly about their training yesterday. But also about stuff in general.

"Hey, you think Charmander and I can show the others a Pokémon battle at recess?" Scootaloo asked excitedly.

"Ah don't know," Apple Bloom answered. "Miss Cheerilee always says we shouldn't fight."

"Oh! Then Squirtle and I can show off some contest moves May taught us!" Sweetie said giddily. After she had told her friends of her new plan to become a Pokémon Coordinator (of which they had been surprisingly accepting) May had taught her and Squirtle a few moves she'd used in contests, coaching both of them from the sidelines.

The group continued to chat until the reached the schoolhouse yard, as saw that everypony in their class, as well as their Pokémon, were gathered in the center of the yard. Miss Cheerilee in the center talking with Princess Twilight.

"Cheerilee, just calm down," Twilight urged. "I sent Juniper to get some of my Pokémon friends and they should be here soon."

Cheerilee took a few deep breaths before finally saying. "Alright, alright, I'm calm," She looked back at the schoolhouse and shuddered. "Ohh, I hate spiders."

"In all likelihood, it's not _technically_ a spider," Twilight said. "Some Pokémon may resemble species here on Equus, but they don't fit into the same categorical system as animals do."

Cheerilee looked at the Alicorn in confusion.

"Just thought I'd mention it," Twilight defended.

"Howdy Princess Twilight!" Apple Bloom said suddenly, trotting up to her. "What'cha doin' here?"

"Are you giving another one of your lectures?" Scootaloo asked in fear.

Twilight laughed and shook her head. "No, your teacher came and got me after she had an... encounter, with some kind of Pokémon in the schoolhouse this morning."

"Cool!" Scootaloo said. "Can we see it?"

"No!" Cheerilee cried. "Don't go in there!"

Scootaloo wanted to shrink back into the crowd, but didn't. "Don't worry, whatever it is, I bet Charmander and I can take it."

"That's what ya said 'bout that Volt-orb thing the other day," Apple Bloom reminded her friend. Scootaloo just blew a raspberry in response.

Twilight smiled. "It's nice of you to offer to help Scootaloo, but I'd rather we wait for someone who knows Pokémon to get here in case whatever's in there turns out to be dangerous."

"And tries to eat our faces!" Snips shouted. Electing gasps from several of the foals.

"That's what a lot of people use to think about Fang here," Belle said, walking into the clearing with the Gene and the Houndoom. "But he never did."

"Hi Belle! Hi Gene!" Sweetie waved.

"Hi Sweetie Belle," Gene returned. "Apple Bloom, Scootaloo," He added with a nod.

"What seems to be the problem Miss Twilight?" Fang asked, trotting past the wide eyed foals and up to the Princess.

Twilight smiled. "Everypony," She began. "These are my friends, Gene, Belle, and Fang." Everypony stared at the newcomers, trying to figure out which one was more interesting to look at. So far Fang seemed to be winning most of the colts, while the fillies preferred Belle.

Twilight turned to them and explained. "Guys, this is Cheerilee, she ran into some kind of Pokémon in the schoolhouse this morning and she doesn't want to go back in until it's gone."

"It's a giant spider!" Cheerilee defended. "It had to be at least two feet tall!"

Gene's eyes widened at the description. "Was it covered in yellow hair?" He asked. "With blue tips on its feet?"

Cheerilee shuddered again. "Yeah... don't remind me."

Gene smiled and turned to Belle. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I know what you're thinking," Belle answered. "And it can't hurt to hope."

"What are you two talking about?" Twilight asked.

Gene grinned and straightened the brim of his hat. "You'll see in a minute," He said. "Alright, let's go check it out."

Twilight watched as the three Pokémon walked up to the schoolhouse, they lingered outside the door for a few minutes. Then Gene opened the door and walked inside.

There were a few seconds of silence, followed by the growing and rapid fading of a bright yellow light inside the building.

"Ok everyone!" Belle called. "It's safe to come in now."

Hesitantly, the ponies made their way to the building, some of the foals rushing ahead of Twilight and Cheerilee, specifically the CMC's, Pipsqueak, and Dinky Doo, along with their Pokémon.

Twilight paused as she entered the building. Her mouth hanging open at the sight before her. "So," Gene said. "Who wants to be the first to meet Webber?" He asked, scratching the chin of the Galvantula perched on his shoulder.

Twilight was drawn from her shock by the sound of something hitting the floor next to her. "Oh my... Cheerilee?" Twilight poked the teachers unconscious body, only for it to twitch a bit before going still again. "... shoot, I was hoping this would go better."

* * *

Princess Celestia once again stood outside the door to Arceus' meeting hall. She went over what she was going to say once more, then nodded with finality. "He'll listen... probably," Celestia was still unable to pin down what made Arceus tick.

"At least with Discord, you can trust he'll be consistently chaotic," She said to herself... mostly to herself, Aegislash floated at her side but he wasn't big on conversation. "With Arceus... I never know how he's going to react." Of course, she should have expected him to get upset when she told him about Sombra... she added another thing she needed to ask the Alpha Pokémon to her list as she pushed open the door.

Waiting a few moments, Celestia examined the room a bit more closely, and once again wondered just where it was.

"_Ah, Princess Celestia,"_ Arceus said, teleporting into the room. _"Back again so soon?"_

"Arceus," She began. "There are a few things that I'd like to discuss with you regarding the upcoming summit."

The Pokémon God raised an eyebrow. _"Oh? Alright then,"_ He positioned himself at the end of the table. _"What did you wish to discuss?"_

Celestia took a seat at the other end of the table, only to look up and find the room had drastically shortened, and that she was sitting a mere ten feet from Arceus. "Must you do that?" She asked.

"_You have to admit, it does come in handy,"_ He answered with a chuckle. _"Would you like anything to drink? Something to eat perhaps?"_

"No... thank you," Celestia said. "Can we get on track here?"

"_Very well,"_ Arceus said with a sigh. _"What did you wish to speak with me about?"_

Celestia took a deep breath and began. "You're aware, of course, that not everyone is happy with what you've caused in coming here, don't you?"

"_Very much so,"_ Arceus admitted. _"And I should have thought out my plan better, or not acted as rashly, or contacted you first, or obli... I get it,"_ He stopped himself before finishing the last thing.

"Then you know some of the other rulers might not be supportive of you staying here," Celestia said.

"_Yes,"_ Arceus sighed. _"A visitor to my temple made that VERY clear... he came from Griffinhiem actually."_

Celestia nodded, she assumed Empress Victoria would be weary of the Pokémon, though not completely against them, as she feared a few of the other rulers might be. "Then you're also aware that is of the utmost importance that you make a good first impression when you meet them," Celestia continued. "And when I say that, I mean DON'T act like you did when we first met."

Arceus raised an eyebrow. _"What specifically though?"_ He asked. _"I admit I acted a bit... big-headed at the time,"_

"You tore a hole in reality to get your point across," Celestia deadpanned. "Then somehow turned it into a sunflower!"

"_Your point?"_

Celestia almost facehoofed. "No scaring or trying to intimidate the other rulers, not unless they try to threaten you or your people, and even then no threatening to erase them from existence. We NEED to be diplomatic about this."

Arceus sighed. _"Of course."_

"And don't do anything like what you showed me in the temple," She added. "Nothing that's just... impossible."

Arceus scoffed. _"Reshaping reality is not impossible, it just takes time, practice, finesse,"_ His eyes glowed golden for a second. _"And power."_

"That!" Celestia pointed out. "Don't say things like that, it makes others think you're going to do something horrible to them."

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"Fine, fine, I won't do anything too crazy with reality while the meetings are going on."_

Celestia nodded and thought for a second before adding. "And don't try to win them over with gifts," When she saw the confused look he gave her, she sighed. "Don't give them impossibly intricate and amazingly crafted pieces of art in hopes of gaining their favor. Some of them might even take it as an insult, or as a petty gesture."

"_Oh... but I had the perfect gift ready for the Hippocampi,"_ He sighed. _"I suppose it can wait until relations improve a bit,_ he sighed, but then brightened up. _"Speaking of which, how are the Pokémon doing in Equestria? I have been taking a look every now and then, but I've also spent time seeing the rest of Equus' sights, which are wonderful by the way, that I'm a bit behind on the relations between Ponies and Pokémon."_

Celestia smiled. "Well enough. There have been a few incidents, but they've mostly been isolated."

"_Good... I hear you passed some form of law giving my subjects rights in Equestria?"_ He asked coyly.

Celestia sighed. "To ensure nopony harms them out of spite. As much as I'd like to say that my Ponies will be able to accept the Pokémon and not treat them badly, I know full well that some of them will refuse to see the Pokémon as anything other than animals, monsters, or beasts for whatever reason. One good example is STILL trying to get his voice back, and based on Twilight's report, another is currently under arrest in Trottingham...again," She glared at the God. "And despite what some of the Ponies say, whether they like it or not, you're here to stay, so it was the only logical solution."

Arceus nodded. _"Very well, is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"_ He asked.

Celestia thought for a moment. "Just basically don't antagonize or provoke any of the other leaders, don't make another "I am a God," speech, and actually _think_ about what you're going to say before saying it. A little thought can go a long way in these kinds of meetings."

Arceus nodded. _"If that is all, then I'll be on my way."_ Arceus turned to leave, but Celestia stopped him.

"Actually... there is one more thing," She began. "How are things going with... Yveltal and his hunt for Sombra?"

Arceus sighed. _"There have been a few close calls, but he has yet to be..."_ Once again, Arceus' eyes flashed gold. _"Disposed of... sorry."_ He remember what the Princess had said about doing that. _"You realize Sombra would no longer even be in this world if you let me deal with him."_

Celestia nodded. "Yes, but as I said before, you can't solve every problem personally... or by relying on an immense amount of divine energy."

Arceus grumbled. _"Fine,"_ He conceded. _"But if he is not dead by the time the meeting begin... he will face my wrath."_

Celestia said nothing, but nodded.

"_Good,"_ Arceus said cheerfully. _"I'm glad we have an understanding. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"_

Celestia thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.

"_Very well then. See you again soon Princess."_ With that, Arceus disappeared in a flash of gold.

Celestia sighed and hung her head. "I pray he doesn't do anything rash," She said to herself. "There are millions depending on this meeting going well."

* * *

Cheerilee sighed as she walked into the school. After being unconscious for a while, she had finally woken up...only to nearly faint again when she saw the giant spider from before on the shoulder of the Pokémon named Gene. It took some fast talking from Twilight, and Gene ushering the spider away for a bit, but they managed to calm her down.

After that, she had decided to go for a walk and left Twilight to look after the class. Walking back into the school, she smiled.

Twilight had apparently gone ahead with teaching the children about Pokémon. It might have been more of an unstructured class, if the fact that several foals were riding on Fang's back, or watching Belle juggle school supplies with Psychic was anything to go by, but everyone looked like they were having fun.

The foals who already had Pokémon were all playing with them, the CMC's and their Pokémon, Pip and his Chatot, Rumble and his Rufflet, even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had Pokémon of their own, a Carbink and a Klefki respectively.

"Hi Cheerilee," Twilight greeted. "Hope you don't mind, I thought I'd let the foals have some hooves on learning with Pokémon."

Cheerilee smiled. "Not at all Twilight. In fact, I was going to ask for your help on something similar."

"Oh?" Twilight asked.

"I wanted to do a few lessons on Pokémon," Cheerilee explained. "Since they're going to be here... forever, aren't they?" Cheerilee had seen Twilight talking with Arceus at Pinkie's party, and since she was a Princess, Cheerilee assumed she knew something.

Twilight sighed. "It looks that way. Though I'm not complaining as I've personally made some very good friends, it seems Lord Arceus is either unable, or just unwilling, to remove them, and there's no way the Princesses can, even if Discord helped."

Cheerilee nodded. "Well, it's probably for the best," She gestured to the foals. "I'd hate for them to have to lose their new friends."

Twilight smiled, then remembered what they had been talking about. "You were saying something about teaching?"

"Right," Cheerilee said. "I wanted your help on a few lessons pertaining to Pokémon or... that Pokémon friend of yours more specifically... the one who's been wearing a lab coat?"

Twilight laughed. "You mean Juniper," Twilight smiled. "I'm sure she'd be more than happy to give a few lessons. She was a Professor back on Earth, and teaching others about Pokémon is basically their job."

Cheerilee smiled. "That's wonderful. Can I stop by the library after school and talk to her? Maybe set up a schedule?"

Twilight nodded. "Sure, I'll make sure she's ready for your visit."

The two talked for a while longer before Twilight went off to check on a few of the foals. Cheerilee was going to follow her, but she stopped when she spotted Gene sitting off to ones side of the room, smiling... with a very large spider sitting on his lap.

She closed her eyes and repeated what Twilight had said in her mind. _It's not a spider, it's not a spider, it's not a spider..._ She cracked open one of her eyes and glanced at the Bug-type. _It sure as heck looks like a spider!_

"You alright?" Gene asked her from across the room. "You're not still scared of Webber are you?"

Cheerilee gulped and took a step towards the Pokémon. "No I... well... yeah, sorry but I don't like bugs, especially spiders."

"I am a Galvantula," Webber said. "And I will not harm you. My trainer has asked me not to, so you have no reason to be afraid."

Cheerilee was surprised to hear him speak, surprised enough to make her jump backwards.

"Uhh... I asked Twilight to cast a translation spell on him," Gene explained. "I just wonder how Rarity's going to react."

Cheerilee looked at the Pokémon on Gene's lap and considered just who he was talking about. "You... you might want to tell her before you introduce them."

Gene nodded and pat Webber on the abdomen. "You know, when I first found Webber, he was nowhere near this size," Gene laughed. "He was so small, he fit in the palm of my hand."

Cheerilee tried to imagine the creature before her at that size, and noted that the image she was getting was a lot less scary. Cute even.

"He was freaking adorable too," Gene added. "Of course, most Joltik are."

"Joltik?" Cheerilee asked.

"Oh right, you don't know," Gene said. "Pokémon go through different stages of Evolution, I caught Webber as a Joltik and he later Evolved into a Galvantula," Gene smirked. "I'm sure Juniper will cover that in one of her lessons."

Cheerilee smiled. "You heard about that?"

Gene nodded. "I think it's a great idea, though... you might want to get some Pokémon to volunteer for Juniper to focus on, if she talks about Fire-types or something else specific."

Cheerilee smiled. "Thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to bring it up with her when we talk later."

Gene smiled. "I suppose we should get out of your hair now huh? You probably have something you need to teach them."

Cheerilee remember the days criteria, but there was no way anypony was going to focus on math or reading after all of this... not yet at least. "Why don't you stay until recess?" Cheerilee suggested. "At least then, you're leaving won't lead directly into school work."

Gene smiled and nodded. "Sure," Gene answered. "I love kids," Gene turned to Belle, who was now floating a few foals through the air, a smile on her face. At the sight, he smiled again. He knew Belle loved kids just as much as he did, especially now. Now that they were both Pokémon, the one thing they both wanted that had once been little more than a dream, was now a very real possibility.

* * *

Korrina snapped the buckles on her helmet, and tightened the straps on her skates. "Alright," She said. "Let's go."

Korrina took off and considered how lucky she was that Ponyville had a roller rink. She REALLY needed to clear her head, and skating always helped her do that.

Fortunately, since it was the middle of the afternoon, most ponies were either at work, or in school, depending on their age.

This meant that other than a few skaters and the ponies who worked here, Korrina was alone. Good thing too, as a skating Lucario would draw a lot of attention.

_This is all Arceus fault,_ Korrina thought. _I could be back in my Gym right now, having lunch or training, in MY body._ She caught a view of her reflection in the windows on one side of the rink. "Well," She sighed. "I suppose it could be worse."

This had two meanings to Korrina. One was that she was at least a Pokémon she knew and respected, and two Arceus hadn't just destroyed humanity when he escaped...especially the latter, since it seemed that Arceus had plenty of reason to do so.

Korrina grunted and pushed herself to go faster. "And Lucario..." She shook her head. She owed him a lot, he'd been there for her on the first few days, through all the fear and doubt. But now...

Korrina silently cursed Elena, and not for the first time. She had beaten up her friend, and then interrupted them while they were trying to have a talk. And Terra...

Korrina's paws clenched into fists. What the Mawile had called them last night… Had nearly pushed her already confused mind over the edge. After the party, Korrina had locked the door to the room at Sweet Apple Acres she and Lucario were staying in and as a result, made Lucario sleep on the couch.

She apologized the next morning, and once again Lucario hadn't held any anger towards her for it.

When Applejack had tried to ask Korrina about it, she had come here in hopes of clearing her head.

So far, it was just making her more confused. "He kissed me," Korrina stated. "My Pokémon kissed me," She said aloud. "Lucario..." She sighed and skidded to a stop as she skated out of the ring. "Oh Arceus..." She sat down and put her head in her paws. "I... I just don't know." Had this happened two weeks ago, Korrina would have been mad and slightly disgusted. But now...

Now... after spending so much time around Gene and Belle... she knew not all human/Pokémon relationships were as they had been made out to be but... she still didn't know how she felt about the whole idea. "My first freaking kiss...even if he is the closest I'd call to my best friend, but still..." She mumbled. "I don't... gahh!"

She stood up and stomped out of the building. As it was now, even skating wasn't going to help her, as she was just utterly confused, and had no idea where she was going.

* * *

May sat on a hilltop overlooking Ponyville. She had found this place the day after the party and had been going there every so often to relax.

May was grateful for everything that the others had done to help her; Fluttershy letting her stay with her, Misty being there to talk with her, and Blaziken... May sighed. She'd always counted on the Fire-type as one of her closest friends. And now that they could understand each other, May found that she really enjoyed talking with him, especially getting his opinion on their travels.

But ever since she had woken up near Trottingham, and especially ever since they stopped the Aggron, she had noticed just how much Blaziken cared for her well being, and it wasn't a new thing. Looking back, she realized he'd acted the same way around her ever since he Evolved from a Combusken, and possibly even a little before that.

She'd tried to shrug it off as him just trying to protect his trainer, but she still felt a little... unsure, if she was right in that description.

"May?" The Delphox turned to see Blaziken walking up the hillside. "You missed lunch, so I thought I'd bring you a snack." He tossed her an apple, which she snatched out of the air.

"Thanks," She said with a smile, taking a bite of the apple. "You know you didn't have to come all the way here right? I could've eaten when I got back."

Blaziken shrugged and sat down next to May on the hilltop. "I know, but I thought it'd be a nice thing to do," He chuckled. "Plus, as kind as Miss Fluttershy is, and as much as I enjoy her company, her cottage is a mad house currently."

May chuckled and nodded. Fluttershy had a lot of Pokémon staying with her, and while she could mostly keep them in order, she couldn't keep an eye on all of them at once.

"So," Blaziken began. "How are you feeling?"

May rolled her eyes. "Like I said yesterday, I'm fine," She sighed. "Same as the day before that, and the day before that." Blaziken had in fact asked her the same question everyday since their arrival in Equestria. "Why do you keep asking?"

Blaziken leaned back on the hill and closed his eyes, a small smile on his face. "Just wanna make sure that nothing's bothering you," He answered. "Can't I worry about my friend?"

May smiled softly. "Yeah, yeah, just remember I'm not as helpless as I use to be," She tapped his beak with her wand. "I am the mighty fire fox now," she joked.

Blaziken chuckled. "Whatever you say."

For a while, the two just sat there, watching the clouds roll by. "Blaziken?" May suddenly said. "You know, ever since we got here you've been acting differently than usual, why is that?"

Blaziken sighed and looked at May, remembering when he had first awoken to find his trainer... though he hadn't known it was her at the time.

* * *

Time ticked by slowly in the town of Trottingham, it had a rustic feel to it that made everything seem to move slower, and by extension, more peaceful.

"-ay! Are you... all... right?!" So much for peaceful.

"Where in the name of Arceus am I?!" Blaziken shouted as he jumped to his feet. "May?" He called. "Glaceon? Beautifly?" He looked around and saw none of his teammates, nor his trainer.

"This is not good," He mumbled. "I have to find May." Blaziken prepared himself to jump, hoping he would be able to spot something in the air. However, he stopped when he saw something red in the corner of his eye.

Walking over to it, he gasped as he recognized May's bandana. "She has to be around here somewhere," He decided, looking around, hoping to spot anything familiar. He sighed. "Where am I?"

Blaziken began his trek through the forest, hoping to find May, or anything really. As it turned out, he didn't have to go far at all. Just behind the tree next to where he had found May's bandana. Blaziken found something that made him gasp again.

Leaning up against the tree, sound asleep and snoring softly, was a Delphox. "She's..." He moved a little closer to the Fox Pokémon and kneeled down next to her. "She's beautiful," He said in awe.

Blaziken sighed as he watched her for a moment before shaking his head. "Can't get distracted by a pretty face," He told himself. "I need to find May..." Saying his Trainer's name, Blaziken's heart dropped.

While he knew May would never return the feelings he had for her, he still felt as if he had betrayed her a little just now. And yet, looking back at the Delphox, Blaziken couldn't help but stare. There was just something about her... "... Maybe she can help me," He rationalized. "Either she'll know the area, or she'll be just as lost as I am, and a little company never hurt."

Blaziken kneeled down next to the Delphox again and placed a talon on her shoulder. "Miss?" He asked, shaking her a little. "I apologize for the intrusion, but I need your help."

The Delphox groaned and tried to swat at the offender. "No thanks, head hurts, angry Vibrava," She mumbled.

Blaziken raised an eyebrow. Something seemed... familiar about her, yet he couldn't quite figure out what. "I'm sorry to disturb you," He said again. "But I could really use your help. I seem to have been separated from my team and I was hoping you could help me."

The Delphox sighed. "Alright," She sat up and stretched. "Just give me a minute to get ready," She rubbed her eyes and looked to Blaziken, a look of confusion on her face. "Blaziken?" She asked.

Not sure how to respond, Blaziken cleared his throat and said. "Indeed, both in species and name. And you are?"

The Delphox blinked once, then moved her paw to her other arm, stopping when she got a good look at the appendage, she wiggled her fingers and ran her paw down the fur on her arm. "Oh Arceus this is weird," She said, shaking her head.

Blaziken was about to ask if she was ok when the Delphox brought her hand back to her arm and pinched it, electing a small eep from the the Fire-type. "I'm... not... dreaming..." She squeaked.

Blaziken rubbed the back of his head. "Umm... are you alr-"

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Blaziken jumped back as the Delphox started screaming. "WHY AM I A POKÉMON?!"

Blaziken looked at the Delphox in worry. "Is... is that some form of existential question?"

The Delphox looked up at Blaziken before jumping to her feet and rushing forward. "Blaziken!" She cried in relief. "It's me, May!"

Blaziken blinked once and considered whether this Pokémon was insane. "How do you know my Trainer?" For the first time he realized how similar the Delphox sounded to May.

"Cause I AM your Trainer," She insisted. "I... I got you from Professor Birch when you were just a Torchic, we almost won the Wallace Cup together last year, I've never once left you at my dad's gym," She was seemingly on the verge of tears. "You have to believe me!"

Blaziken was taken aback, unless this Delphox was the cause of his separation from May, she could not have known all of those things. But she was a Psychic-type, she could have read his mind, or May's. But she looked so scared right now, so honestly terrified...and come to think about it, her hair did kinda look like May's.

"You... how is that possible? May's human," Blaziken said, shaking his head.

"I... Misty told me Ash got turned into a Pikachu once," May supplied. "Maybe... maybe a witch put a curse on me to make me learn a lesson!"

"Which would be…?" Blaziken left the sentence hanging.

"Oh, I..." She looked at her paws, then at the dress she was wearing. "Maybe... something about dressing like a proper lady? Or... something about Pokémon?"

Blaziken resisted the urge to facepalm, an urge that only one being in all his life had given him. "May," He said, taking a step forward and placing a hand on her shoulder. He stared into her eyes and she stared into his.

After a minute of this, May began to fidget. "Umm... are you doing this for a reason?"

He chuckled. "No, just making sure it was you." He handed her the bandana and said. "I think this belongs to you."

May smiled and took her bandana before frowning. "Where are we?" She asked, looking around.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Blaziken sighed. "We should try to find help... maybe a Pokémon Center or something."

At the mention of that, May tensed up. "B-but I'm a Pokémon now," She pointed at herself. "What if someone tries to catch me." She sounded scared.

Blaziken stepped forward and put a talon her shoulder. "May, do you trust me?"

The former humans was taken back at the statement. "Of course I do," She answered almost immediately.

"Then trust me when I say, I won't let any harm come to you while you're like this," He sighed and added. "No matter how long that is."

May stared at him for a second, then smiled and hugged her Pokémon. "Thank you," She said, relief in her voice. "Now," She went to put her bandana on. "Which way should we..." May was stopped from tying her bandana around her head by her new ears. "Oh," She sighed.

Blaziken chuckled. "Let me," He took the bandana from May and used his talons to cut two holes in it. Then he maneuvered it over the Delphox's ears, pushing it past he tufts of fur that sprouted from them. "There," He said, tying off the bandana. "That's better."

May smiled. "Thanks. Now, which way should we go?"

* * *

Blaziken smiled and looked over to May. "I woke up to find that my Trainer... my best friend, had been turned into a Delphox," He said with a chuckle. "I've been... a bit distracted with it, plus I still worry for you," He said, not going into details about _what_ exactly about May's new body had him distracted.

May sighed. "Whatever you say," That wasn't really an answer, but she didn't see a point to pushing it. "And Blaziken?" She continued. "Just... thanks for being here for me, you're a great friend."

The Blaze Pokémon smiled and lied back on the grassy hill, and shortly after, May lied down as well, right next to him. _This,_ He decided. _Is perfect._


	42. Chapter 39

Gene smiled and scratched Fang just behind the horns, eliciting a happy whimper from the Houndoom. "It's good to have everyone back together."

After they had found Webber yesterday, there had been a scare when they introduced him to Rarity... The fashionista had screamed and ran into her room, locking the door behind her. It had taken almost an hour to coax her back out and actually introduce the two.

Fortunately Rarity had more or less accepting of the Galvantula after that, though she still seemed a little nervous around him.

"It is," Belle agreed, sighing and leaning on her fiancé's shoulder. "It really is."

Gene smiled again and looked around the room, Fang had his head on his lap, Belle was next to him, River had coiled up in a corner and was taking a nap, and Webber was on the ceiling... possibly trying to siphon electricity from the lamp.

Mage was around somewhere, she had taken to exploring the boutique, and the rest of the town, particularly the library, in her spare time, and when you can float through walls, it left a lot of places to look.

Draco was out for a mid morning flight, and Rarity was out doing some shopping. Gene smiled and was about to say something else when Mage floated back into the room. "I thought this place would have a secret basement or something," She complained. "All I found was an overstuffed storage room, and some weird stuff in Rarity's closet."

Gene sighed. "Mage, how many times have I told you not to go through peoples things?"

The Ghost-type shrugged. "I don't know," She smiled. "Come on, we're all back together now, we should do something to celebrate."

Gene shook his head, but smiled. "And what did you have in mind?" He asked.

Mage thought for a second, then grinned again. "Picnic," She said with a nod.

"Picnic?" Gene asked.

Mage chuckled. "Yeah, we use to have them all the time back on Earth."

Webber dropped to the floor, twisting in the air and landing on his feet with a solid thud. "I do not think eating away from towns and cities because Gene would otherwise be arrested counts as a picnic."

"Yes it does," Mage replied after a moment.

Webber cocked his head and clicked a few times before saying. "Ah... then I too would like to have a picnic."

Gene smiled. "Why not," He turned to Belle. "You up for a picnic love?"

Belle smiled. "It sounds wonderful," She replied.

Gene nodded and pushed Fang off of his lap. "Alright then, I'll see if I can find a basket and pack us a lunch, you guys find Draco and wake up River."

"What for?" River asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eye with her tail.

"We're going to have a picnic," Belle answered.

River smiled. "Yay," She cheered through yawn before uncoiling herself. "I can go find Draco, I know what kind of places he likes to sun himself."

Gene smiled. "Thanks River,"

"No problem," The Dragonair replied as she slid out the door.

"Alright then, everyone else," He looked back at his family. "To the kitchen!"

_I wonder if other gods ever have to deal with this,_ Arceus thought to himself as he stood in the Hall of Legends. _It's been a very long time since I've talked to any outside my family... I wonder if they even remember me._

The Alpha Pokémon was trying to focus on the task at hoof, but he was beginning to get tired of giving the same answers. _"My children,"_ He said to the Pokémon before him. _"I understand that you are upset, but believe me when I say I had the best interest of all at heart when I enacted my plan."_

"But my Lord," The Swampert argued. "What about Earth?"

"_Home is where the heart is,"_ Arceus replied. _"Have those important to you not made it?"_

The Ground-type looked back at the Liepard and Persian who had entered the temple with him. "Well... yeah but,"

"_Then enjoy your reward my son,"_ Arceus said as he settled next to the Swampert. _"See the world, travel, fall in love, do whatever it is you mortals do with your lives,"_ Arceus smiled. _"Live your life in this new world."_

The Swampert looked like it was going to say something, but looking Arceus in the eyes, whatever it was died in his throat. "Come on Mom, Dad, let's go," He said, the three Pokémon leaving the temple.

Once they had passed out of his sight, Arceus sighed and teleported back to his chair at the head of the table. _"Sixth one in two days,"_ Arceus said, shaking his head. _"Maybe I shouldn't have given the world my home address,"_ He mused.

"_Hey Dad,"_ Mesprit greeted, floating into the room. _"How'd the meeting go?"_

Arceus scoffed. _"These humans are a persistent bunch, and like minded as well."_ Over the past week, more and more former humans had been showing up and asking him to send them home, or change them back, or go... well a few hadn't been too polite, but a little show of cosmic power usually fixed their mood. There had been a few pleasant meeting though, the priestess from one of his remaining religious sects in Sinnoh had been a refresher.

That, coupled with the background noise of several thousand prayers, made Arceus wonder if he should have done a head count on the way coming in, he had NO idea how many humans were here, and at this point it would be easier to count the ones back on Earth.

Mesprit chuckled. _"Don't worry, I'm sure in a few years everything will calm down."_

Arceus sighed again, he had greatly underestimated several things about the humans, one of which was how many had been dragged along. _"I had hoped it would take a few months to get acclimated, then I could just spend my days with all of you or exploring the new cosmos."_

Mesprit shook her head. _"Don't think that's going to happen anytime soon,"_ She floated over to her father and wrapped her arms and tails around his neck. _"Come on Dad, cheer up."_

Arceus chuckled. _"Very well sweetheart, I won't dwell on what's come to pass."_

"_Good,"_ Mesprit said, releasing her father. _"Now, have you seen Darkrai or Cresselia anywhere?"_

"_They left the temple about an hour ago... something about Rainbow Falls I think."_ Arceus was glad that those two were finally together, and he'd have to be sure to thank Luna for helping Darkrai when next he saw her.

Mesprit smiled. _"Alright, just checking,"_ She flew a little ways off before coming back and giving Arceus another hug. _"Bye Dad!"_ She called as she floated out of the room.

Arceus chuckled, then after no interruption came for a moment, he sighed. Pulling his list of places to visit from his pocket dimension, he looked over what was left. _"Might cause a panic if I go to see Marelantis or Prance, if I go to the Zebrican jungle I'll just run into more Pokémon and humans... hmm, I wonder if Celestia is having the same problem."_

Princess Celestia rubbed her eyes as the former human, now a Pokémon known as a Stoutland, left the room.

"Please tell me there aren't anymore," Celestia said, turning to her guards.

"No more Pokémon, your majesty... except for a few accompanying Ponies," One of them answered.

Celestia sighed. "Alright, give me a minute and send the next one in,"

The guards saluted and left the room, leaving Celestia alone, actually alone, as Ninetales was having lunch, and Aegislash was patrolling the castle.

"Thank Harmony this is the last day I'm doing this," She sighed. "Instead I'm replacing them with a bunch of probably upset Kings, Queens, Emperors, Empresses, and a Chief," She shook her head.

She figured that Empress Serva would be accepting, as would Queen Oceania, but she was unsure of the others. Trotankhamun would likely side with her unless he'd had a remarkably bad experience with the Pokémon, Celestia smiled at the thought of seeing the young king again, he was a close friend of hers.

Empress Victoria, from what Arceus had revealed, was likely going to be accepting as well. Emperor Golden Horn, on the other hoof, would likely fight hoof and horn against it, stubborn bull.

Others were more... difficult. Cadence she didn't have to worry about, but she didn't know how Emperor Carapace, King Halfpaw, or Chief Thunderhooves would react, though she had high hopes for the last one.

King Faris of Saddle Arabia was also a worry, the Saddle Arabians were more traditional than most other races of Equus. It was one of the reasons Celestia had invited Princess Amira to Equestria last year, as Faris' first and only child, she was first in line for the throne, and Celestia hoped to help the young mare reshape Saddle Arabia as she had helped Trotankhamun and his father do with Zebrica.

"And I have to make sure Arceus doesn't do anything stupid," She said.

"_Do you always worry this much?"_

"AAAHH!" Celestia jumped out of her throne and turned to see a large hole in the air next to her seat. Peering through the hole was none other than Arceus. "Must you do that?!" Celestia asked, trying to get her heartbeat down. "No, scratch that, STOP DOING THAT!"

Arceus scoffed. _"You seem high strung,"_ He commented. In a flash of light a teapot and several tea cups appeared, somehow balancing on the portals edge. _"Care for some tea? It's made from the leaves on a Serperior's tail."_

Celestia glared at him. "Are you just showing off? Or did you want something?"

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"I've been locked away for thousands of years, forgive me for stretching my muscles,"_ The tea disappeared. _"I was just wondering if you'd had any former humans visit you recently."_

Celestia hung her head. "Of course I have," She said. "Every time one of them shows up, the guards point them towards the castle," She picked her head up and glared at him again. "How many did you bring? I've had five in two days, and one of my researchers in the field has sent back reports naming more than ten in the same amount of time."

Arceus chuckled nervously. _"Honestly? I didn't keep track, seems to be quite a few though."_

Celestia face hoofed and stared at the Alpha Pokémon. "Why did you even bother asking?"

Arceus shrugged. _"Just curious... and, I wanted to ask, a member of my old religious sect showed up the other day and-"_

"No, you are not setting yourself up as a religious figure in Equestria, or anywhere else on the planet for that matter," Celestia answered immediately.

"_Fine, fine, just thought I'd ask the question,"_ He thought for a second, then said. _"What if I don't help set it up?"_

"Goodbye Arceus," Celestia deadpanned, managing to use her magic to force the portal shut.

"Princess?"

Celestia turned to see one of her guards standing in the doorway.

"The next petitioner... shall we send them in?"

The Princess put on a fake smile. "Of course,"

Gene smiled as he walked through Whitetail Woods, one hand holding a picnic basket. The other grasping Belle's hand.

"Let's just find a spot and eat," Mage said, floating in front of Gene. "I'm starving."

"Mage, you don't even have a stomach," Draco commented. "I don't even know where the food you do eat goes."

"And you never will," The Mismagius said with a laugh.

"She does have a point though," Fang said. "Let's just find somewhere to eat."

Gene chuckled. "Alright, alright, I promise we'll eat soon, I just want to find a nice spot first alright?"

The rest of his words were cut off when they heard a familiar voice not far away. Too bad what was being said was well...kinda disturbing.

Gene turned to Mage and glared at her. "I told you to stay away from Nick and Elena,"

The Mismagius scoffed at the implied accusation. "Hey, I didn't do anything to them... this time. Besides, I only hear one voice, not two."

"Does that make this better or worse?" Draco asked.

"One second," Mage turned invisible and flew off.

"Personal space Mage," Gene shook his head. "Just... why?"

A few moments later, Mage reappeared in front of them, a confused look on her face. "I guess that's what Applejack meant when she said Nick was experimenting."

"Mage!" Belle snapped.

The Mismagius snapped to attention. "It's not what you're thinking," Mage said. "He's... testing his new senses I guess. Or else he's hugging a Spritzee for no reason."

The rest of them stared at Mage in disbelief for a moment before Gene spoke up. "Oookay, looks like we're going to have to find somewhere else to eat."

There were no objections.

"Alright," Iris began, looking over the four little Dragons lined up in front of her. "What did you want me to teach you first?"

"Whatever you see fit, my Lady," Axew said with a bow.

Iris chuckled to herself, yesterday she had run into the Training Dragon Club again and, after talking with them for a little, she had promised to teach them.

The problem was, she didn't know what to teach them.

When Iris had trained her Pokémon, and likewise trained to become a Dragon Master, what made her special was her ability to control Dragon-types and understand them, not in the literal sense, but how they felt and what they did.

Now she could walk up to one and ask them, and she wasn't sure her 'ability' to calm them down had transferred over.

"Alright, let me think..." Iris tapped her chin with a claw before smiling. "Do any of you know Dragon Pulse?" She asked.

The four Dragons looked at each other before shaking their heads.

Iris smiled. "Then that's what we'll start with," She looked around the clearing for a good target. Spotting a boulder on the edge of the clearing, Iris walked over to it. She had practiced a few moves back in Manehattan, and had been surprised when she could use them with such ease. Chalking it up to her status as a Dragon Master, she stopped in front of the boulder and looked it over.

It wasn't all that big, but it would serve to prove her point. She looked back to where the Training Dragon Club was standing, then back at the boulder. Sighing softly Iris reached down, grabbed the boulder, and walked it back over to them, much to their awe.

"Ok," Iris said. "Dragon Pulse is a more advanced move, but it's well worth it, and can be very devastating to an opponent."

Iris motioned for the young Pokémon to back up a little and then looked back at the boulder. Closing her eyes, Iris focused her powers and. "Dragon Pulse!"

A purple shock wave blasted from Iris' jaw and slammed into the boulder, shattering the stone.

"Whoa!" The little Dragons exclaimed, looking at the shattered remains of the boulder.

After a moment, Bagon turned to Iris and smiled. "I wanna try!"

The others soon joined in saying that they wanted to go first, but before Iris could settle them down a voice from behind her interrupted them.

"Uhh... girls? I'm not sure what we just found."

Iris twisted around to see that three fillies, as well as three Pokémon. Iris thought they looked familiar, maybe she'd seen them at Pinkie's Party for Nick and the others?

"Hi," Iris greeted them. "What brings you three here?"

"Oh, you can talk," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, Princess Twilight cast a translation spell on me." Twilight had fortunately figured out how to make the spell last longer, but she still needed to find a more permanent solution.

"Well," Scootaloo continued. "We came out her because we were training our Pokémon."

"And we don't wanna accidentally break somethin'," Apple Bloom added.

"I just came to practice some moves with Squirtle," Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

"Wait," Axew stepped forward. "You three are... Pokémon Trainers?"

The looks on the Crusader's faces made it clear they couldn't understand him. "He asked if you three were Pokémon Trainers," Iris translated.

"Darn tootin!" Apple Bloom answered.

"I'm working to become a Coordinator, actually," Sweetie corrected.

The four Dragon looked at each other before coming together in a huddle. "Lady Iris?" Dratini asked. "Could you ask them if they want to have a battle or two?"

Iris smiled and asked the Crusaders the question. "That sounds like a great idea!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Yeah, we've mostly been fightin' Pidgeys and the like, but ya'll seem like you'll be a might stronger."

Sweetie Belle looked away sheepishly. "I... I don't really like battling that much," She admitted. "Sorry."

"Don't worry," Iris assured her. "I'm sure that those two will be enough for now," she smiled, before adding, "But if you feel like it, it wouldn't hurt to give your Squirtle some practice every once in a while."

"Well," Sweetie said, looking at Squirtle. "I guess a few battles couldn't hurt."

"Then it's settled," Scootaloo said. "Who wants to fight me and Charmander first?"

"This seems like a nice spot," River said, curling up on the grass in the center of the little field they had come across. "Plus we're not far from the river, so that's nice."

Gene smiled and set down the picnic basket. Pulling out the blanket, he handed it to Belle and smiled. "This was a great idea Mage," He said.

"Aww, go on," Mage said.

Belle rolled her eyes and smoothed out the picnic blanket using her Psychic, giving it a quick once over she stood up and was going to grab the basket when Fang shouted. "DUCK!"

The Gardevoir turned around in time for some kind of shock wave to collide with her body.

"Belle!" Gene cried.

The wave dissipated as it came in contact with the Fairy-type, doing little more than to startle her.

Despite the fact that no harm had come to her. Gene rushed over to his mate and took her hands. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Belle nodded. "I guess it was a Dragon Pulse," She said, looking around. "I wonder where it came from though."

Gene sighed in relief, then glared around the clearing, trying to spot the attacker. "Okay, I guess this_isn't_ such a good spot," He sighed and bent down to grab the blanket. "We'll just have to find another place to eat."

Several of the others groaned. "You know, this never happened back on Earth," Mage commented.

"No, there we just had to worry about running into campers and me being arrested," Gene replied.

"Touché."

"Oh, well, that was... good Bagon but next time... try to aim a little better, okay?" Iris looked in the direction the rogue Dragon Pulse had gone. "Arceus, I hope that doesn't hit someone."

Bagon hung his head, sad that he had disappointed Lady Iris.

"Hey, it's alright," Iris said. "You're still learning, and that was good for a first time."

Bagon smiled a little.

"Uhh, are we gonna keep fightin'?" Apple Bloom asked, the last attack had missed Bulbasaur and flown off into the distance.

Iris looked over the two Pokémon, both looked tired, and Bagon was probably still feeling a little down. "Why don't we let Sweetie Belle and Squirtle have a go?"

Apple Bloom looked at the Champion in confusion for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"Alright," Iris said. "Who wants to go next?"

After a moment, Gible stepped forward.

She turned to Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie? Are you ready?"

"I... I guess so," Sweetie said, stepping forward. "You sure you wanna do this Squirtle?"

"Squirtle, squirt," The Turtle Pokémon nodded, then turned towards his opponent.

"Alright, let the battle begin!" Iris called.

Gible smiled as the battle began. "I'll start off easy for ya, Take Down!"

Sweetie watched as the Ground-type rushed towards her Pokémon. "Squirtle! Withdraw!"

Squirtle's head, limbs, and tail, vanished into his shell just before Gible attack hit. Gible slammed into the shell, making it slide backwards before coming to a stop.

"Oh come out of there," Gible cried. "It's no fun if you hide the entire time."

Sweetie Belle watched as Gible advanced on Squirtle again, then smiled. "Squirtle, use Water Gun!"

Gible made to pounce on Squirtle when he came out, but instead, a stream of water shot from the front of the shell, knocking her backwards.

"Good work Squirtle!" Sweetie called as her Pokémon popped out of his shell.

"You too Sweetie Belle!" He called back before turning to Gible.

"Alright," Gible said, pushing herself to her feet. "It. Is. ON! Dragon Rage!"

The shock wave blasted outward and knocked Squirtle into the air. "Squirtle!" Sweetie cried.

The Water-type managed to land on his feet as he hit the ground, then smiled at Sweetie Belle to show he was ok.

"I'll give you credit, I didn't think you'd last this long," Gible admitted. "But I'm done holding back. Sand Tomb!"

A sandstorm was whipped into existence around Squirtle, stopping his movements, and with the sand whipping around him, he was forced to retract into his shell again.

Sweetie Belle began to panic, then remembered a movie May had told her about. "Squirtle! Use Rapid Spin and Bubble!"

For a moment, nothing happened, the Squirtle's shell started to spin and a steady stream of bubbles blew from the holes. Soon enough, the sandstorm had dissipated and Squirtle popped out of his shell.

Gible growled, then smirked. "You're actually pretty good, but I still plan to win this. Dragon Pulse!"

The purple shockwave shot from Gible's mouth and, unlike Bagon's attempt at the attack, hit it's target, knocking Squirtle backwards.

"Squirtle!" Sweetie Belle cried as she watched her Pokémon struggle to his feet.

Gible smirked. "Metal Claw!" She rushed forward and raked her claws down Squirtle's shell. The attack had little effect, not even scratching the shell.

Sweetie Belle smiled, since Gible was up close, she could make use of her position. "Squirtle, use Bite!"

Squirtle opened his jaws and used them to grab hold of Gible.

"Hey! Let go!" She cried.

"Now use Rapid Spin!" Sweetie called.

Pulling everything except his head into his shell, Squirtle began to spin, still holding Gible in his jaws.

"This! Is! Making! Me! Dizzy!" Gible cried on each rotation.

"Now finish it off with Water Gun!"

Still spinning, Squirtle shot a stream of water from his mouth, one which Gible was caught in. "AAAH-erk!"

Gible's cry was cut off as she slammed into the ground. When she didn't get up, Iris walked over to her and turned her over. Her eyes were swirling as she mumbled. "I don't wanna ride the merry-go-round."

"Gible is unable to battle, the winner is Squirtle!" Iris called before picking up Gible. "Good work Sweetie Belle," She congratulated.

Sweetie Belle smiled and ran over to Squirtle. "You did a great job," She said, hugging her Pokémon. "Now come on, you deserve a rest."

"Squirtle," He said thankfully.

As those two walked off to regain strength, Apple Bloom and Bulbasaur stepped forward. "We still have some fight in us," She said. "Who wants ta battle?"

Gene smiled as he set out everything he had packed for the picnic. It had taken longer than they had hoped, but they had finally found a good spot to set up. Ponyville park was mostly empty at this time of day and most of the ponies and other Pokémon gave them their space.

"Alright guys," Gene said. "Soup's on."

Since ponies didn't have the same dietary needs as humans or most Pokémon, the spread was a little different than what they were use to. Mainly that there wasn't any meat for Fang or Draco, but there was still enough food. And a few batteries for Webber to drain after lunch.

Gene had set up the blanket under the branches of one of the old trees near the edge of the park, it was a nice relaxing setting, aside from the various Pokémon, mostly Mage and Fang, fighting over who got what.

"Give me the pudding cup Mage," Fang said with a growl.

"Nu uh, I got it first."

"You don't even need to eat! You just want to eat it in front of me!" The Houndoom whined.

"No," Mage defended, rolling her eyes and popping off the top. "I wanna eat it cause I like chocolate."

Gene chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich. He couldn't eat daisies or hay, but apparently ponies liked peanut butter and jelly.

"_Our family, huh?"_ Belle said jokingly.

Gene smiled and leaned back against the tree. _"Yeah,"_ He agreed. _"I wouldn't change them for the world though."_

Belle smiled and slid up next to Gene, smiling as he wrapped an arm around her. _"Mmm, this is nice," _She said. _"All of us together again, not having to worry about... you know,"_ She sighed contently. _"It's just... perfect."_

Gene smiled again. _"Yeah,"_ He agreed, leaning over and kissing Belle on the lips. _"It is."_


	43. Chapter 40

(Highly suggested you read this, s/10591878/1/Do-You-Hear-The-Bass, before reading this chapter. It'll clear up a lot of confusion.)

* * *

Terra slumped at the kitchen table, holding a bag of frozen peas to her head. "Owww," She groaned. "I had a nightmare about volleyball last night."

Octavia nods and slides the Mawile a cup of coffee. "I can imagine why," She sighs.

Last night's attempt at setting up Nick and Elena had been the biggest failure yet, and by far the most spectacular, leaving Terra unconscious and Tavi a hundred some bits poorer.

"I assume you'll be taking a break from the match making for a while then?" Octavia ventures.

Terra groans. "Only if I can't get Mage to fill in for me."

Octavia lets out a sigh as she heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. "That'll be Vinyl, possibly with an 'I told you so'."

The unicorn trots into the kitchen a moment later and, after saying good morning to both her friends, trots over to the fridge. "We got any waffles left?... Never mind, I found 'em," Vinyl whistles as she trots over to the toaster and pops in a few waffles. "So, what did you girls have planned for today?"

"Gotta track down a Ghost," Terra mumbles into her coffee.

"And I am going to have a chat with two of our housemates," Octavia said. "As soon as I figure out where they are," She added, trotting out of the kitchen.

Octavia left, Vinyl trotted over to Terra. "You're not trying to get Mage to help you are you?"

Terra tried to nod, but the motion hurt her head. "My quest for love... will not go... unfinished."

"Did you hear anything I said last night?" Vinyl asked, she thought the Mawile had at least been a little conscious when she gave her speech.

"You're voice sounded like wubs." Terra deadpanned. "Now I must go find my one time partner in crime." Terra dropped from the chair she was sitting in and began walking out of the kitchen. "Tallyho!" She cried, before falling flat on her face.

Vinyl sighed and picked up the Steel-type in her magic. "Come on you, maybe Zecora's got something to help with your headache."

As the door to the house opened and shut, what appeared to be a blank spot in the kitchen wavered, as if it were a mirage. As it soon turned out, it was.

Nick and Elena smiled as Vinyl and Terra left. As since Octavia had left to go look for them, they had some time alone.

"You sure everyone's gone?" Nick asked.

Elena nodded. "I saw Octavia leave to look for us, and you just heard Vinyl and Terra go out."

Nick nodded. "That's good."

The two of them stood there for a moment, Nick rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly before saying. "So... about last night," He began, only for Elena to stop him with a raised paw

"I meant it all," Elena said, as she held his paw.

Nick smiled softly and blushed. "Yeah, great...so...now what?" he asked. Elena was honestly the first girl he had EVER been in a relationship with, so...this was uncharted territory for him.

Likewise, Elena was also nervous, since same as Nick, she had never been in a relationship with a male before, partly due to her harboring feelings for Nick for quite some time.

As the two of them held paws, Nick remembered something that he had wanted to do since they were reunited in Manehattan, and with shaky paws, he pulled Elena closer. The closeness caused both of them to blush harder, but one look into each others eyes and they soon felt lost in each others gaze, and seemingly by instinct, their muzzles had started to close the gap between them, before they were soon pressed against each other. The pair stayed like that for a few moments, before breaking away from each other, panting slightly.

"Wow….just wow…" Nick breathed, both of them blushing heavily.

"Yeah," Elena agreed, her face practically red from the feelings that had just elicited.

"Should we tell Terra or anyone?" Nick commented, as the thought came to mind.

There was a short pause as they two looked questioningly at each other, before the answer became clear. "Nah," they both agreed. The Mawile was annoying enough normally, and if she found out about them now...they wouldn't hear the end of it.

"So... um... you wanna go for a walk around town or something?" Nick asked.

Elena smiled. "That sounds... nice,"

Nick smiled and, still holding Elena's paw, led her out of the house, smiles on both their faces.

* * *

Terra paced back and forth across the wooden floor. "Alright men," She began. "You all know why we're here, we all have one goal in mind, and that goal is-"

"Do you always act like some kind of general when you do this?" Mage asked, looking up from the book she was reading. "Cause while it might actually be effective on people, I really doubt your 'men'," She gestured to the piles of book Terra had had her drag down. "Are going to be inspired."

Terra glared at the Mismagius. "As I was saying, since our last few attempts to get Nick and Elena together failed.

"Miserably," Mage added absentmindedly.

"- We need to come up with new plans, preferably foolproof ones that will guarantee them hooking up. So," Terra clapped her hand together. "What have you got?"

Mage sighed and shut her book. "How many times have you tried to set them up since you got here?"

Terra tapped her chin. "... Ten, maybe eleven."

"Uh huh, and did any of those get even close to the desired outcome?"

Terra pouted. "Almost..." She turned to Mage and shouted. "Look, we're not here to talk about past plans, we're here to make new plans, stronger plans!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Mage. "And you're suppose to be helping with your knowledge of the macabre and hocus pocus."

Mage chuckled. "Alright, alright, give me a second," Mage closed her eyes for a second, then opened them as several of the spell books she'd dragged down began to circle her.

Terra took a step back as Mage's eyes flickered from on book to the next, after a while, Mage frowned and the books dropped to the floor. "Ok, I have some good news and some bad news."

"What's the bad news?" Terra asked.

"Only an Alicorn or a high level Unicorn can use the spell," Mage blinked once then shook her head. "Who asks for the bad news first?"

"It saved us some time, didn't it?" Terra asked.

Mage sighed and reopened one of the books, unlike the others, this one was a small purple journal looking book, with the words. 'Memory Journal' written on it. "Apparently Twilight's old babysitter can use a spell that quote, 'strengths the bonds of love two ponies feel for each other,'" Mage shut the book and shrugged. "I'm willing to bet it'll translate to Pokémon too."

Terra smiled. "Perfect, where can we find her?"

"The Crystal Empire, about a day long train ride north. Apparently the Crystal Empire is near the polar regions."

Terra groaned. "Well... did you find any more potion recipes?"

Mage shook her head. "Pretty sure Twilight's hiding them, I'll probably find them eventually but as of yet? No such luck."

The Mawile banged her head against the leg of one of the lab tables, not a good idea given what she went through the night before. "Ow... why is the universe set against me?"

"Aww, don't think... like... that..." Mage developed a contemplative look. "Hm, you know, it just occurred to me that we're only a few hours walk from the most powerful beings in the world."

"So?" Terra asked.

Mage smiled. "Including Lady Cresselia."

Terra stared at the Ghost-type in disbelief for a moment, then a grin spread across her face. "Yes," She said, rubbing her hand together like so movie super villain. "Yes! Together, we shall brave the dangers of the Everfree forest, and request the help of Cresselia for our noble cause." Terra said with a laugh, an audibly evil laugh

Mage smiled and began to laugh as well, hers rising into a witch-like cackle.

"Ahem," The pair's laughing was interrupted by Twilight, who was standing at the top of the stairs to her basement, staring down at them.

"Princess Twilight," Terra laughed nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," She deadpanned.

"Oh... right, small world huh? Mage and I were just... how much did you hear?"

"Everything from, 'dangers of the Everfree'," She answered.

Mage chuckled and began to back away, hoping to make it through the wall. She was stopped by a wall of energy.

"I think we need to have a chat," Twilight said, pulling both Pokémon upstairs in her magic.

* * *

Nick smiled as he and Elena walked down the streets of Ponyville. The town wasn't as fancy as places like Lumiose, but then again, Nick had always liked rural towns like this better anyway.

Nick looked to his left and smiled at Elena, she smiled back at him. "This really is nice," Elena said. "This entire place just seems so peaceful," She chuckled. "At least when Terra isn't around."

Nick nodded, ever since they had arrived, aside from Pinkie's party and last nights date, Ponyville had been-

"Nooooo!" Nick and Elena flinched as Mage flew by them, followed by Princess Twilight.

"Give me back the book Mage!" She cried.

"But it's the History of Hearts and Hooves Day!"

The pair looked at each other. "Ignoring that?" Elena deadpanned, not wanting to let one incident ruin their day.

Nick nodded. "Definitely," he deadpanned back. As nice as Ponyville was, it seemed to be a magnet for odd things.

"So... it's getting close to lunchtime, you wanna grab a bite to eat?" Nick asked.

Elena smiled and nodded. "Sure, you have anywhere in mind?"

Nick thought for a second, then said. "Well, Applejack said we could stop by her farm anytime, why not around lunch?" He said with a smile.

Elena chuckled. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Quick Charmander, use Ember before it gets away!"

"Char!"

The Fire attack just missed the Weedle and the little Bug-type began crawling in the opposite direction as a result.

"Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said. "We're suppose ta be gettin' these critters away from here ta make sure they don't eat our apples."

"Sorry," Scootaloo apologized.

Earlier that day, while the CMC's and their Pokémon had just been goofing around the farm, they had come across a group of trees completely infested by Weedles.

The Pokémon Trainers in training had taken it upon themselves to clear out the Bug-types before they could do any damage, though it mostly consisted of chasing the little Pokémon around, trying to get them off the farm.

"Squirtle, use Bubble again," Sweetie Belle ordered.

"Squirt Squirtle," The stream of bubbles that left the Water-types mouth did little more than... actually, most just popped on the Weedles sharp heads, though some hit their mark and the sent them scurrying.

"Come on Sweetie, do it like you two did in that battle yesterday," Scootaloo shouted.

Sweetie Belle sighed. Official battles might be one thing, but she still didn't feel comfortable attacking wild Pokémon.

While Sweetie was distracted by her thoughts, and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom by the Bug Pokémon, none of them noticed on of the Weedles, a clearly distressed look on its face, squirm off further into the orchard.

After a moment, all the Weedle paused and looked off in the same direction, then scampered back into the apple trees.

"Oh fer pete's sake," Apple Bloom cried. "How're we gonna get 'em now?"

Scootaloo tapped her chin in thought, then smiled. "I know, Sweetie Belle and Squirtle can flush 'em out. Water can't hurt trees so-"

"Shhh!" Sweetie said suddenly.

"Hey!" Scootaloo began again. "I was trying to-"

"SHHHH!" Sweetie said again. "Do you girls hear that?"

The fillies listened closely, and they heard the sound of...buzzing? Yes, it the was buzzing of wings, but from the sound of it...there were a lot of them. "What's….?"

The question died in Scootaloo's throat as a swarm of the same Pokémon that'd been attacking Big Mac on the first day... Beedrill, flew into the clearing. One of them holding a crying Weedle.

The Bee Pokémon glared at the fillies for a moment, before they let out a battle cry and flew towards them.

* * *

"I wonder if they have anything that's not apple based," Elena said jokingly as she and Nick made their way up the path to Sweet Apple Acres.

Nick laughed. "If they don't well probably be having Apple Pie for lunch. Not that that's a problem, cause Pinkie says their Apple Pie is to die for."

Elena nodded, recalling the praise Pinkie had given her friends cooking. She was about to add her own thoughts, when her ears twitched, picking up a buzzing sound from off the main path.

"Nick?" She asked. "Do you hear the buzzing?"

The Zoroark paused for a second and listened. "Yeah," He answered. "What do you think it-"

"AAAHHHHHHH!" Nick jumped back as three fillies and three Pokémon rushed out of the trees and ran up towards the house.

Nick looked at Elena, who shared a worried glance in the direction of the buzzing. A few moments later, a Beedrill swarm emerged from amongst the trees. At the sight of the swarm, their eyes bugged out, before they promptly turned around and ran after the fillies, the swarm gaining on them bit by bit. "Oh come on! Can't we have some lunch WITHOUT an angry Beedrill swarm after us?!" Nick shouted as he and Elena continued to run for their lives.

* * *

An hour later, Nick and Elena were walking down a path through Whitetail Woods. Applejack had been able to calm down the Beedrill with some help from Vespiquen and her hive, and had then scolded Apple Bloom for attacking the Weedle, Nick and Elena had slipped out in the middle of that.

"Well today's been... strange," Nick said with a sigh. "Not really much of a first date huh?"

Elena chuckled at the question. "While it might not have been the most... normal date, there's ever been," She said, taking his paw in hers. "I actually had fun today."

"Really?" Nick asked. "You remember us being chased by Beedrill right?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Nick, everytime we gave you a map or something to do with traveling, you ran the risk of walking straight into a Beedrill hive. I lost count a long time ago," she deadpanned with a wry smile.

Nick blushed at the memories of all his traveling mishaps. "I guess you have a point," He said with a laugh.

Elena laughed along with him, and Nick wondered just what he had done to deserve a girl as wonderful as her.

Taking her other paw in his, Nick drew Elena close to him, both of them blushing deeply once more. Smiling and looking into each others eyes, the leaned in and pressed their muzzles together, neither of them wanting that moment to end.


	44. Chapter 41

As the sun crept over the horizon, the early morning light illuminated the town of Ponyville.

As the sunlight crept into the Golden Oaks Library it illuminated the room of one Princess Twilight Sparkle, who, as if driven by some unseen force, opened her eyes just as the sun's rays peaked through her blinds.

Quicker than should have been possible for someone so early in the morning, Twilight leapt from her bed saying. "Today's the day!"

Twilight trotted over to her dresser, and opened the locked drawer at the top. Opening it, she pulled out her crown, and her golden hooflets.

Twilight positioned her crown on her head and slipped on each hooflet, she'd gotten better at putting them on recently.

Smiling, Twilight checked to make sure that Spike was still asleep. Smiling at the baby Dragon's sleeping form, she made her way downstairs.

"Let's see," She said as she picked up the checklist she had prepared the night before. "Royal regalia, check. Spike's still asleep, check,"

Next on the list was a quick breakfast, followed by leaving a note for Juniper and Spike telling them that she'd already left for Canterlot..

Putting a piece of bread in the toaster, Twilight started on her note. She had asked Juniper and Spike if they wanted to come the night before, Spike had refused, saying he'd seen enough dignitaries growing up in Canterlot, and Juniper had said she would have, but she had a meeting with Cheerilee today regarding teaching the foals about Pokémon. But both had promised to come up to Canterlot in a few days.

The toast popped from the toaster and Twilight caught it in her magic and buttered it in one smooth motion.

Munching on her breakfast as she made her way out of the library, Twilight placed the note on the kitchen table.

"Breakfast, note, check," She said with a smile. "Next up, I need to get the girls." The day before, Twilight had told her friend that she was going to the World Summit and, that as national heroes, it would make a good impression if they showed up.

Secretly, Twilight just wanted her closest friends around for support, but her point still stood.

Twilight exited the library and closed the door behind her, it was still early, so nopony was up yet, and most Pokémon were asleep as well, or at the very least, just waking up.

As she made her way to Sugarcube Corner, Twilight realized just how alike this was to the first day the Pokémon had arrived.

Twilight was about to knock on the door, but it swung open before her hoof hit the surface. "Hi Twilight!" Pinkie said with a smile. "We're ready to go!"

"We?" Twilight asked.

"Hi!" Zap popped out of Pinkie's mane and landed on her head. "I'm Zap!"

Twilight had forgotten about the Rotom that Pinkie had befriended. "Nice to meet you Zap," Twilight said, as Pinkie exited Sugarcube Corner, Twilight noticed that Pinkie had a cake box on her back. "Pinkie," Twilight sighed. "You can't throw a party for the world leaders."

The party pony giggled. "I know silly, you told me like, a dozen times last night." Pinkie smiled softly and patted the box. "This is for someone else."

Twilight eyed Pinkie curiously for a second, but pushed the train of thought from her mind and focused on the task at hoof. "I'm going to go get Rarity," Twilight said. "Applejack's going to meet us at the train station with Fluttershy, could you get Rainbow?"

"Yepper deppers," Pinkie said with a salute before trotting off.

Twilight smiled and made her way towards Carousel Boutique. "If I time this right, I'll get there after Rarity's finished putting on her makeup and doing her hair, and I'll just have to convince her that her Gala dress still looks lovely and tell her that I'm not going to wear my coronation dress to this."

As Twilight approached Carousel Boutique, she was surprised to see that Belle and Gene were standing outside the shop, along with Draco. "Hi guys," Twilight greeted. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Just getting ready to go," Gene explained, rubbing Draco on the head. "We're coming to Canterlot with you guys."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Any particular reason?"

Gene and Belle looked at each other. "Ever since we got here, everything's been happening so fast, and we haven't had much time to ourselves," Gene explained. "So were going for what we hope will be a romantic few days, away from this crazy town... no offense."

"None taken," Twilight said, then smiled. "I can recommend a few restaurants if you two are planning any dates."

Belle smiled. "We might just take you up on that," She turned to Draco. "Ready?"

The Flygon nodded. "Sure, Gene probably weighs less now anyway, so we should be able to get there in no time." Draco knelt down.

"I didn't weigh that much," Gene said, climbing onto Draco's back. "And it's not like I rode you that often anyway."

Twilight watched as Belle climbed onto Draco behind Gene and wrapped her arms around him. "Wait, you're going to fly to Canterlot?"

"Yep," Gene answered. "Pretty sure if we leave now, we'll get there before you guys." He smiled. "See ya at the castle."

With that, the Mystic Pokémon spread his wings and took off.

Twilight watched as they flew off towards Canterlot. "I guess that's one way to travel." She said before knocking on the door to Carousel Boutique.

* * *

Twilight watched the landscape roll by her window, thinking on what was to come.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous, and excited, or as Pinkie might say, nervicited.

She was less than a year into her Princesshood and she was about to take part in one of the most important events in the history of Equus.

"Hey Twilight? Twwwiiiliiiight?" Pinkie poked her friend. "You alright?"

Twilight couldn't help but smile. "Yeah Pinkie, I'm just thinking."

"About the meeting?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah, to be honest I'm feeling a little nervous."

Pinkie smiled and hugged the Alicorn. "That's why we're here," She said. "We might not be able to go in with you, but you can rest assured that you'll have all the support we can give."

Twilight smiled and looked around the train car. Rarity and Fluttershy were talking, the dress Rarity had worn to Twilight's coronation carefully packed in the suitcase next to the unicorn.

Rainbow Dash, wearing her Wonderbolt cadet uniform for some reason, was talking with Lucario and Korrina, both of whom had decided to tag along, Korrina wanting to get away from Ponyville for a while and explore the city, and Lucario not wanting to leave Korrina's side, though Korrina oddly didn't seem too happy about that (she noted that the air around those two had felt...awkward lately).

Nick and Elena had tagged along for that same reason, the Zoroark seeming very interested in seeing the city, and possibly meeting the Princesses and maybe even Arceus.

Of course, with those two coming with, Terra had as well, along with Mage, both of whom were sitting across the aisle from Nick and Elena, whispering to each other while occasionally glancing at them.

Twilight chuckled. "I guess you're right," She said. "But still-"

"Shhh," Pinkie said, stroking Twilight's mane. "No buts, just relax."

Twilight tried to get out of Pinkie's grasp, but found she couldn't escape. Sighing and resigning herself to her pink, huggy fate for the time being, Twilight decided to look on the bright side.

"You're right, Pinkie. And at least I'll be able to see Cadance and my BBBFF."

"That's the spirit!" Pinkie said happily.

* * *

Princess Celestia stared at the door before her, it was a normal door, on the outside it didn't look anything special, but looks can be deceiving. "Just knock," She told herself. "How bad could it be?"

She didn't want to think about how bad it could be as she knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" The familiar voice of Discord called.

Celestia held her breath, as she waited for Discord. After a moment, the door opened, and Discord popped his head out. "Well hello Tia," He greeted with a smile. "What brings you here?"

The solar Alicorn sighed. "I need your help with something," She admitted.

"Oh?" Discord asked, teleporting out of his room and in front of Celestia. "And what might that be? Some ancient evil escaped from Tartarus and you need me to track it down?"

Celestia didn't even bother looking confused. "No Discord, it's about the meeting."

"Ohhhh," Discord said. "Don't worry, I promise I won't mess with your royal friends." _Not too much anyway_. He thought to himself.

Celestia smiled softly, then said. "Thank you but... that's not it."

Discord raised an eyebrow at Celestia and said. "Tia, as much as I love playing twenty questions with you, I'm guessing this will go quicker if I just ask what you need."

"I want you to make sure nothing goes wrong in Canterlot while the meetings are going on," She said. "In case anyone tries to use all these dignitaries in one place to their advantage, or if a more dangerous Pokémon attacks the city."

Discord blinked once and looked at her in disbelief/confusion. "Really? You want _me_ to guard Canterlot?"

"Just until the meetings are over, and only if the Royal Guard aren't able to do it themselves."

Discord didn't know what to say. He expected her to say something along the lines of 'don't get in trouble,' or 'just stay out of the way, and keep your head down,' But not this.

"Really?" He asked again. "This isn't some prank that ends with the guards trying to arrest me?"

"No," Celestia said. "You've been reformed for a while now and you've been... moderately well behaved, so I'm deciding to trust you with a little responsibility." The Princess didn't completely trust Discord yet, though he had livened up the castle ever since he moved in, for which she was thankful, but she hadn't given him any real task to do ever since he was released.

Discord stroked his beard, considering his options. On one hand, it was responsibility, which he wasn't a fan of, on the other, he hadn't been doing much for the past few days, just absorbing chaos magic and checking out the greater multiverse, then on the other hand he might get to boss some guards around, which he loved to do, then on the other, other, other hand...

"You know what? Sure, I'll help you out Tia." He flashed a toothy grin. "What are friends for?"

Celestia smiled softly. "Thank you Discord. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go prepare."

"Oh don't you worry Tia," Discord said, disappearing, then reappearing in a suit of purple and gold armor, with a pink starburst on the chest. "Just leave everything to me."

* * *

Twilight and her friends made their way through Canterlot castle, and headed for the landing platform behind the castle where they were told Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting.

"This place is awesome!" Nick shouted, his voice echoing off the walls as they walked through the castle.

Elena chuckled at his reaction. She had a feeling that he would react this way, especially since he had reacted a similar way about a month ago when they visited Parfum Palace in Kalos.

"So when do we meet the rulers?" Rarity, now wearing her dress, asked.

"As soon as they arrive you'll get to see them," Twilight answered. "But we're not all going to meet them right away, the first meeting will probably start as soon as they all arrive."

Rarity pouted slightly but accepted the answer.

It wasn't long before the group exited the castle and walked out onto the landing platform, the platform was large enough to dock at least a dozen fair sized ships at, and was currently empty.

What really drew everyone's attention was the Solar and Lunar Guards flanking each side of the walkway, spears held at their sides. The line reaching all the way to the ramp that led to the platform.

At the top of that ramp, Celestia and Luna stood on opposite sides of a red, gold fringed carpet, that had been rolled all the way out to each of the sky docks, branching out to each one like branches on a tree.

"Twilight," Celestia greeted with a smile. "I'm glad you're here..." She looked at all the beings who'd accompanied her. "It's good to see all of you." Her gaze lingered on Nick, Elena, Terra, and Mage. "Though I don't think I know you four."

"I'm Mage," The Mismagius greeted. "One of Gene's Pokémon... speaking of which have you seen him?"

"Gene and Belle, as well as Draco, arrived some time ago," Luna answered. "We had some guards show them to a few empty rooms... this castle seems to have plenty of those."

Celestia smiled before turning to Nick, Elena, and Terra. "And you three?"

"I'm Nick, Your majesty," The Zoroark answered, slightly nervous to be speaking with royalty. "And these are my friends, Elena and Terra."

Celestia thought for a moment, then remembered. "Ah, of course. You three are the ones Twilight found in Manehattan."

Everyone present, save Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy, suddenly became very interested in the sky, or the grass.

"Oh, right," Twilight had sent Celestia a letter detailing their time in Manehattan after she got back, and well...it could have certainly gone better. "I'd assume none of you really want to remember that."

Twilight nodded rapidly.

Celestia chuckled. "Very well then," She turned back to Twilight. "Anyway, the world leaders will be arriving in a few hours."

Twilight smiled, that still left her with plenty of time for the princesses to go over their plan with her.

Celestia glanced at the rest of the group and said. "You're all welcome to stay until the other Leaders arrive. But do be on your best behavior, as while most of them are really quite friendly...most of the time...they still ARE the Leaders of the various races of Equus."

"How long are these meetings going to last anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"Considering what we will be discussing? I wouldn't be surprised if they went on for days." Celestia grimaced at that thought.

"Speaking of the meetings," Twilight prompted. "What's our strategy exactly? How are you planning to sell the idea that the Pokémon should stay?"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other. "We're hoping some of the other leaders have had positive experience with the Pokémon," Luna began.

"And I know a few of them will likely be open to the idea," Celestia continued. "But a lot if this is riding on Arceus, specifically him telling them why he did what he did and not acting like he did on our first encounter with him."

Twilight stared at Celestia for a second. "You did talk to Arceus about that... right?" She asked worriedly.

Celestia nodded. "Of course. We only have one shot at this, and I'm not going to let a rash decision, pardon me, _another_ rash decision, make this situation even worse."

Twilight nodded. "Anything else I should know?" She asked.

Celestia smiled softly. "Just be your usual courteous, intelligent self and I'm certain you'll do wonderfully, Princess Twilight."

Twilight smiled at the compliment.

"If anyone has any other questions," Luna said to the entire group. "Now would be the time to ask."

No one spoke up.

"Then I suggest you all rest for the next few hours, as it will be quite hectic around here after the rulers arrive."

With that, Princess Luna turned and walked back towards the castle.

"My sister is right," Celestia said. "We should all prepare ourselves for the days to come." And with that they walked into the castle, all of them anxious for the hours to come.

* * *

A few hours later and once again, everyone was gathered at the landing platform. Standing at the front, ready to greet the various leaders was Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight.

Off to one side, the rest of the ponies and Pokémon stood, including Gene, Belle, and Draco, stood, all of them awaiting the arrival of the world leaders.

"Who do you think shall arrive first this time sister?" Luna asked.

"Arceus if he decides to be first, probably Empress Victoria otherwise," She answered.

A few minutes passed before the first arrival was spotted on the horizon.

"Ah, Victoria it is then," Luna said with a nod as the airship approached Canterlot.

The Griffin airship was larger than most Equestrian ones, and was marked with the Griffins insignia, a silver Griffin standing on its hind legs, wings spread behind it and claws in striking position, on both sides of the ship.

As the airship approached the city, cries of awe, and a few of alarm, could be heard from the city below. Celestia wasn't sure what the alarm was about, since she had announced the upcoming meeting the day before.

The ship decreased in speed as it approached the castle, coming to a stop above the landing platform.

The ship then dropped several ropes from either side, which fell to the sky dock below the ship.

"How are they going to anchor it?" Gene asked.

His question was answered for him when six Griffins leapt from the ship and glided to the dock below.

"So that's what a Griffin looks like," Belle commented.

It wasn't long before the Griffin airship was safely secured in the sky dock. Once the final ropes were tied off, the side door opened and a ramp slid out, reaching the ground below it.

First out of the airship were another half dozen Griffin guards, each one armed with a sword, a spear, or a crossbow.

The twelve Griffins, including the ones who had tied down the ship, lined up on either side of the pathway as another Griffin exited the airship. "Announcing the arrival of her Majesty," He stepped off to the right and bowed as he finished his line. "Empress Victoria of Griffinhiem."

A solitary female Griffin exited the airship, her feathers a pure royal white save her wings, which were blood red, her fur was a silvery gray and aside from the silver crown atop her head, she wore silver armor over a red tunic.

As Empress Victoria walked approached the end of the ramp, each of the guards bowed before her as she passed, the Empress' didn't seem to notice, as her gaze was locked directly on the Princesses.

Everyone was so focused on the Empress, that they almost missed the next beings to exit the ship. First was another Griffin, again female, with a mustard yellow coat and white feathers, though not as pure as the Empress' her feathers were mottled with purple chick-like While everyone's eyes were on Victoria, they almost missed the last three beings to dots and two tufts of feathers hung from her head, almost like pigtails.

Behind her exited two Pokémon, a Bisharp wearing a metal battle skirt, a sword on her waist, and a female Lopunny.

"Greetings Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," Victoria eyed Twilight for a second before adding. "Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Empress Victoria," Celestia greeted. "It is good to see you again, though I wish the circumstances weren't as such."

"On that we can agree," Victoria said. "You remember my clawmaiden Grizelda," Victoria indicated the younger Griffin behind her. "And this is Shredder, and Roll, I hired them and the rest of their guild, Checkmate, to serve under my crown after they assisted Miss Do during an incident involving some Diamond Dog rogues."

Celestia had to repress a smile. While Twilight looked shocked that apparently both rulers knew about Daring Do, it did explain a few of her mentors cameos in the books.

"Shredder will be my advisor during the upcoming meetings," The Empress informed.

"Very well," Luna said. "Guards! Show Empress Victoria and her company to their rooms." The Princesses had an entire portion of the castle coordined off for the visiting royals and their guards.

One Lunar and one Solar Guard stepped forwards and waited for the Griffins to follow them, after a quick glance back at the Empress and a nod, the Griffins began following the ponies.

"See you soon Princess," Victoria said as she followed her guards, Grizelda, Roll, and Shredder following behind her.

Celestia, Luna and Twilight watched the Griffins until they had all entered the castle. "She seemed... nice," Twilight ventured.

Celestia sighed. "Victoria feels inexperienced compared to me when it comes to ruling, I think she might feel a little inferior."

"Oh," Twilight commented.

Meanwhile, off to the side, Nick turned to Elena and smiled. "Pretty cool huh?" Nick asked. "When Octavia explained what a Griffin was I wasn't expecting a half Pyroar-half Pidgeot."

Elena smiled. "Yeah, I guess they are 'pretty cool'," She said with a laugh.

It was only a short while before the next arrival was made known, once again when an airship entered Canterlot airspace.

The approaching ship was smaller than the Griffins, but still fairly large. It was dark silver and black, with bright green markings resembling a crescent moon with what appeared to be an ocean tide coming out, the markings of the Changeling Empire.

Celestia smiled as the ship docked in much the same way the Griffins had, several Changelings flying to the ground and tying off the ropes. Although there had been a... rough patch, after Chrysalis had invaded, Celestia still looked forward to seeing Carapace again.

Once the ship was tied down and the doors opened, several Changeling guards stepped out and got into a formation much like the Griffins had. Unlike the Changelings who had invaded Canterlot, these Changelings had different colored wings, manes, tails, and chitin saddles. "Announcing his Majesty," The Guards said together. "Emperor Carapace, ruler of the Changeling Empire."

A few seconds passed before an older looking Changeling exited the craft, unlike the guards, who had more or less the same build, he was of a slightly bulkier build and a slightly taller stature. His mane and tail were silver, with a lighter streak running down them, and his wings were a warm but translucent grey. His chitin saddle was also grey, but lighter and warmer and his horn, while crooked, curved softly instead of sharply.

A small smile on his face, Emperor Carapace made his way down the ramp and towards the Princesses, another two Changelings, one with bronze coloring and one with white coloring exited after him.

They, in turn, were followed by several Pokémon. First a Chesnaught wielding a tan and green spiked hammer, he was followed closely by a Heliolisk and a Trevenant, both females. A few steps behind them came a Zoroark, male and... the ship appeared to be shaking as something within approached the door.

The gathered beings gasped as a red and orange head peeked through the doorway.

"No way," Gene said in a hushed tone.

The Tyrantrum squeezed through the doorway, it's frame barely accommodating the Dragon-type. He roared as he exited, the sound echoing throughout the area.

"Belle?" Applejack whispered. "What is that?"

"Tyrantrum," The Gardevoir answered. "It's a prehistoric Pokémon, and aside from Genesect, probably the most dangerous."

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," Carapace greeted, turning to Twilight, he smiled. "And you must be Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes... your majesty," Twilight answered nervously.

Carapace smiled warmly, then turned to Celestia. "It is good to see you again, especially since our last meeting wasn't under the best circumstances."

"Nor is this one, I'm afraid," Celestia said. "But I'm glad to see you as well."

Carapace smiled. "Where are my manners," He turned to the Pokémon behind him. "These fine Pokémon are the members of ShadowFox construction, they've been assisting my kingdom during the current crisis. This is my advisor on Pokémon matters, X,"

The Chesnaught bowed his head. "Your highnesses."

"Naruto," He indicated the Zoroark, who nodded. "Azisa and Inti," The Trevenant and Heliolisk smiled. "And Apocalypse."

"Hello!" The Tyrantrum greeted, waving one of his diminutive arms.

"And two of my royal advisors," Carapace indicated the Changelings who'd exited behind him. "Rizen," The white maned one bowed. "And Silver Heart," As did the one sporting the bronze mane.

"It's good to meet all of you," Celestia said.

Carapace smiled and glanced at the rest of the group. "Ah, of course," He said, trotting over to them. "The exalted Elements of Harmony." He greeted Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, the last of whom was hiding behind Draco.

"Greetings, your majesty," Pinkie said with an over exaggerated bow.

"It's an honor to meet all of you," He replied. "You've done our world a great service many times over... and for what it's worth, I apologize for any trouble my granddaughter caused you."

The Ponies smiled nervously, while the Pokémon looked at each other, confused.

Celestia cleared her throat and drew the Emperors attention. "Would you like the guards to show you to your rooms or..."

"That won't be necessary," Carapace said. "We'll be sleeping on the airship for the duration of our stay."

Celestia nodded sadly, after Chrysalis' invasion, fear of Changelings had skyrocketed, and the Princess could understand if Carapace wished to be cautious. "Very well, feel free to look around the palace, but do be careful," Celestia said. "The meeting starts around three."

"Of course Princess," Carapace said before heading towards the palace, his guards and the Pokémon following him.

Before they got far, X stopped, halting the group. He turned around and walked up to Luna. "...Have we met before?

"Pardon?"

"Sorry, but Its just that your name sounds really familiar." The Chesnaught rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as the Lunar Princess was beginning to piece facts together. "Kinda like I had a dream about it."

"A dream?"

"Yeah. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I remember something that looked like you being in it."

Luna eyes then lit up (literally) as she thought about it. "Wait, I believe I recall something. Did you pay tell, have a dream where you replaced the role of a Champion before your parents became monstrous shadows whom were eradicated by moonlight?"

"Yea, how did you know that?"

"Because I was there." Luna grinned. "As I said then, I am the Princess of the NIght. Guarding the Dreamscape is but another of my duties."

"Well I'm really glad you're really real." X grinned, kneeling down to her eye level. He then gave her a one handed hug, Luna acting a little surprised while Celestia flashe a playful grin. "I wanted to say thanks. That was a real rough night and without you, I think I might not have made it to the next day with my sanity."

"You are welcome." Luna replied. X moved out of the hug, flashing a smile before rejoining the Changelings towards the castle.

It was then that Celestia noticed several of the ponies appeared tense, Rainbow Dash most of all, as well as Applejack and Rarity.

Celestia sighed inwardly, she had her work cut out for her, fixing the problems Chrysalis had caused.

"Everyone," Celestia said. "I think that will be the last arrivals for a while, the rest of the nations are a deal farther from Equestria, so if you want to relax for a bit, I suggest you do it now."

* * *

Not ten minutes later, most of the Ponies and Pokémon, save the Princesses par Twilight, Draco, Mage and Terra, were taking a break in something similar to a dining room they had found not far from the landing platform.

"I don't know," Rainbow, who was lying upside sitting upside down in her seat, began. "I still don't trust them."

"Rainbow Dash, you have no reason to be afraid of Emperor Carapace," Twilight said. "He knew Celestia and Luna BEFORE Luna became Nightmare Moon."

"I'm not afraid of him," Rainbow defended, flipping upright. "I just don't trust someone who can hide behind any face they want."

Nick was going to say something, but Elena put a paw on his arm and shook her head.

"Well I think Emperor Carapace seemed nice," Pinkie said. "At least he didn't seem as grumpy as Empress Victoria."

"What's with you guys and the Changelings anyway?" Korrina asked. "And who's this Chrysalis I keep hearing about?"

"Queen Chrysalis," Rarity began.

"Not Queen," Twilight corrected. "After Emperor Carapace heard about the attack he revoked her title." Twilight turned to Korrina and explained. "She's a Changeling terrorist who tried to conquer Canterlot a while back." The Alicorn grimaced. "During my brothers wedding, I might add."

"Yikes," Gene said. "Where is she now?"

"Imprisoned in the Changeling Empire," Twilight answered.

"I still don't know," Rainbow grumbled.

"Rainbow, Emperor Carapace was the one who tipped off the Princesses that someone might be attacking Canterlot," Twilight said in exasperation.

"Ah thought that was anonymous," Applejack said.

Twilight shook her head. "Celestia was just being cautious," She turned to Rainbow. "Since most ponies don't like Changelings from the get go."

The room was awkwardly silent for a moment before Applejack broke the silence. "Alright, changin' the topic here, what's with the Pokémon those two brought with? Particularly the big fella'."

Belle sighed. "The Tyrantrum you mean, not really that much to tell, Rock/Dragon-type, some of them can be temperamental, though this one seems quite well behaved."

Applejack nodded. "Ya'll called it somethin' when I asked what it was... prehistoric?"

Gene nodded. "It means really, _really_ old, like... millions of years or something."

"So it's one of the oldest Species of Pokémon around then?" Twilight inquired.

"Yeah," Korrina said. "But the Prehistoric thing more refers to the fact that it was reconstituted from a fossil."

The was a soft thud from where Twilight was sitting and everyone looked to see she had fallen from her chair. "Y-y... you're kidding me right?"

The Pokémon looked at her in confusion. "Kidding you about what?" Belle asked.

Twilight shook her head. "You CAN'T actually be telling me you had the technology to revive extinct Pokémon from fossilized remains."

Gene raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah we are," He said. "The technology is actually a few decades old already, and the ancient Pokémon have even successfully been reintroduced into the wild."

Twilight's bottom lip quivered and her eye twitched. "B-but... fossils and... DNA degradation over... energy needed to..."

"Twilight?" Nick waved a paw in front of her face. "Is she alright?"

"I think you broke Twilight." Rainbow commented.

"Twilight... you're going to have to pull yourself together, we have to get back to the platform soon," Gene said, hoping to get through to her.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to try to ignore what's long been considered a scientific impossibility that you've apparently had for decades since more than half the world leaders have yet to arrive. But try not to tell me anything on the subject for now."

The room was silent for a second before Gene spoke up. "Juniper once revived a Pokémon called Archen and reintroduced it to a wild flock."

"Mother of-"

* * *

By the time Twilight managed to calm down, they had to return to the landing platform. As the next world leader would likely be arriving soon.

Grumbling to herself as she went to stand by Princess Celestia and Luna, Twilight put on a calm face and tried to push the thoughts from her mind.

Standing off to the side with the others, Gene smiled as Draco landed next to him. "Hey bud," He said, rubbing the Flygon's muzzle. "Where'd you get off to?"

"I was in the gardens, seeing if I could find a nice spot to relax," Draco answered. What he didn't mention was the annoying stallion he had run into while there.

Flashback

"_I dare say, what is a creature like you doing in the palace gardens?! I'll have you know this is not a place for your kind to run about, making a mess of things! I'm going to inform the guards at on- NO NO NO PUT ME DOWN!"_

Draco smiled at the memory. He had left the unicorn stuck in a tree, a good way away from the main path.

"I don't see Terra anywhere," Elena pointed out. "Or Mage... oh no." She facepawed.

Nick chuckled and grabbed her paw, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek when no one was looking. "I think those two are a little late, huh?"

Elena blushed softly and smiled. "I guess so."

"Look! A ship!" Pinkie shouted, pointing out the airship on the horizon.

It was smaller than the other two, and was light brown in color, with golden metal on its rims. The sails had ab symbol of a slashing sword, the cutie mark of the king, on them.

Celestia smiled as she recognized the airship of King Trotankhamun. Celestia had had a close relationship with the young king ever since his mother had died giving birth to him. She had helped him a lot growing up, and had helped him get his bearings as a ruler and, when his father had died in his early teenage years, she had been there for him.

As the ship landed and was anchored, the door opened and, to Celestia's surprise, not only did several Zebra guards exit, but several Pokémon wearing armor did as well.

"Announcing the arrival of his majesty," One of the guards began. "King Trotankhamun of Zebrica!"

"And Commander Sev, of the Pokémon Liberation Army!" One of the Pokémon guards announced. "Blessed warrior chosen by our mighty Lord Arceus."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, and a small amount of worry.

A young Zebra stallion who didn't look much older than Twilight exited the ship. He wore a simple tunic and had a sword sheathed at his side. He also wore a smile on his face as he took in the scenery.

As he trotted towards Celestia another three beings exited the ship. Twilight whimpered as a Seviper, cloaked in the same style of armor as the rest of the Pokémon, slithered out of the door next to a blue Pegasus mare with two tone orange and yellow hair.

"Lightning Dust!?" Rainbow said in alarm, covering her mouth to keep from screaming. "What the hay is _she_ doing here?"

Just behind Lightning and the Seviper, a Kirlia wearing a light blue uniform exited the ship. "Aww, look Belle," Pinkie cooed. "It's a mini you."

Gene grabbed Belle and pulled her into a hug. "Nope, Belle was much cuter when she was a Kirlia."

"Princess!" Trotankhamun exclaimed as he trotted up to her.

Celestia smiled and nuzzled Trotankhamun, much to Twilight and the others surprise. "It's good to see you again, how are things going in Zebrica?"

Trotankhamun's smiled faded. "Not all that great," He admitted. "The Hyena Dogs are rebelling, and with the Pokémon showing up the isolationist sect has been more annoying than ever and..." He shook his head. "Where is this Arceus, I'd like to have a few choice words with him."

Celestia sighed. "He's yet to arrive... now why don't you introduce me to your... friends?"

Trotankhamun nodded and turned to the Seviper behind him. "As you heard, this is Commander Sev, of the Pokémon Liberation Army, I recruited his organization to serve under my crown."

"Ah, Empress Victoria did something similar," Celestia said. "With a group known as Checkmate I believe.

Sev scoffed. "Checkmate? They're nothing more than a group of mere mercenaries, whoever would require their help would be a sad ruler indeed."

Luna glared at Commander Sev for a moment before looking away from the snake.

Celestia smiled awkwardly and continued. "So... Commander, that's a title I haven't heard from a Pokémon yet, nor have I heard of a... Pokémon Liberation Army."

The Seviper smiled, causing Twilight's knees to wobble slightly, another quiet whimper escaping her.

"You see Princess," He began. "The PLA is an organization devoted to ending the tyrannical hold the humans have put our kind under." He turned to the other Pokémon present and smiled.

Immediately, Lucario stepped in front of Korrina, and Elena stepped in front of Nick, on either side of Gene, Belle and Draco took up an offensive pose.

The Commander raised an eyebrow but shrugged.

Celestia laughed nervously and Luna once again glared at the Seviper, Twilight, for her part, was too busy trying not to hyperventilate.

"And this is my marefriend, Lightning Dust," Sev introduced.

"Your highnesses," Lightning Dust greeted with a bow of her head.

"And my little sister, General Lia."

The Kirlia smiled and curtseyed.

"Now," Sev began. "Where are the other leaders?" He sounded... hungry, when he said that.

"Empress Victoria and Emperor Carapace have already arrived, we are still waiting on the rest," Luna said. "We'll have some of our guards show you to your temporary quarters."

Luna motioned forward and two of her Night Guard stepped forward.

"I'll see you at the meeting Princess," Trotankhamun said.

"Yesss," Sev hissed, turning back to the Pokémon, he said. "Worry not my brethren, for the great Commander Sev shall ensure that the other rulers see us for our greatness, and that none of you are ever bothered by humans again."

At this point, Gene was trying to keep Belle from throwing the Seviper off the mountain.

It was only once the Zebra King and the members of the PLA were inside that everyone let loose.

"AH!" Twilight collapsed to the ground, her hooves covering her head.

Belle growled and fired a Shadow Ball straight up before pulling Gene into a kiss.

"Okay," Applejack started. "What the hay was that?"

"And why was Lightning Dust with them?!" Rainbow shouted.

"S-snake," Twilight whimpered.

Celestia sighed. "Of all the possible creatures... I'm going to ask Arceus about that one once he shows up."

The group talked about the new arrivals until the next airship arrived, this one was much different than the ones they'd seen so far.

For one thing, it was armored, as if they were flying into a warzone, and Twilight could see a harpoon gun mounted on the side.

All together, it just looked more... military, than the others.

As the ship was anchored via steel cables, several heavily armed Minotaurs exited the ship, each one wielding a sword, or an ax, or a hammer.

Celestia and Luna shared a nervous glance as a large, red furred Minotaur wearing dark grey battle armor and wielding a battle ax half as tall as he was. What really drew your attention were his horns, as his name would imply, they were bright gold.

As he approached the Princesses, Twilight was shocked to see he was actually a few inches taller than Celestia.

"Princess Celestia," Emperor Golden Horn greeted. "Princess Luna," he eyed Twilight and smiled. "_Princess_ Twilight."

"Emperor Golden Horn," Celestia greeted in turn. "How have you been?"

The Minotaur snorted. "Ever since these creatures appeared, Minos has been in an uproar, as has the rest of the country."

Celestia nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Bah, we'll have it cleaned up once we force them back to where they came," He hefted his ax onto his shoulder. "This Arceus creature will learn that you don't step on a Minotaur's hooves and get away with it eh?."

Celestia frowned. "We shall see."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when he noticed the Pokémon standing off to the side.

After staring at them for a second, he spoke. "I see," He turned back to Celestia. "You had better have a good reason for this Princess."

"I do," Celestia assured him. "And I promise, everything will be explained in due time, but for now, I must await the arrival of the other rulers."

Golden Horn snorted and shook his head. "Very well Princess." He stepped forward and pointed his ax at one of the guards. "You! You will show me and my men to where we may rest."

Nodding silently, the guard made his way back towards the castle. While his guards went ahead of him, Golden Horn took another glance at Celestia. "A damn good reason Princess."

Celestia watched as the Minotaurs entered the castle. "I knew he was going to be a problem," She said under her breath.

"I do not remember the Minotaurs former ruler being that rude," Luna said.

"That was Emperor Taurin and he ruled over a thousand years ago Luna," Celestia reminded her sister.

"Princess?" Twilight asked. "Why did he act like that? I understand that he would be upset but,"

Celestia sighed. "The Minotaurs are a battle hardened people Twilight. Emperor Golden Horn came to power in the midst of his country's last civil war." She looked back towards the castle. "He sees the Pokémon more as a danger to his people and their way of life."

"Oh," Was all Twilight could say.

"The we'll just have to change his mind," Luna said with finality, stomping her hoof.

Celestia nodded. "We can try..."

The next airship to arrive was the most peculiar thus far. First off, it was completely sealed and the sails were set on either side. It had twin balloons above the body of the ship, keeping it aloft, and a large pair of windows at the front, the rudder, at least, was still set in the same place at the back.

What was truly peculiar was all of this gave it the appearance of a fish someone had tied balloons to.

Rainbow snorted as the ship landed, and an actual anchor dropped to the dock.

The side door opened, allowing some of the water inside the ship to spill out. "So... Hippocampi?" Pinkie asked.

"As if the fish ship wasn't already enough of a clue?" Rainbow replied.

This time, instead of a ramp coming from the ship, a walkway made of water created a slow decline to the ground.

The Hippocampi who exited the ship was a mare with a coat as white as Celestia's, her tail was a brilliant sea green and whenever the scales caught the sunlight in the right way they would shine like a rainbow, she also wore a golden circlet atop her head. Furthermore, she was almost as tall as Celestia, and stood a bit taller than Princess Luna, or... she would've been, had she been standing.

Queen Oceania was surrounded by a clear sphere of water, suspended several inches above the ground.

Behind the queen, a small contingency of four guards followed after her, like the ponies to Celestia, they were smaller than their Queen. All of them were encircled in their own spheres of water.

They, in turn, were followed by a pair of Milotic, one with the normal red and blue colors on her tail and Dorsal fins, while the other had pale blue Dorsal Fins and a gold and red tail. The Shiny one sported black and yellow clips on her Dorsal Fins.

"My word," Rarity exclaimed. "They're magnificent!"

Gene smiled. "Yep, those are Milotic for ya. It's no exaggeration that they're considered the most beautiful Pokémon by most people." He turned to Belle and smiled gently. "Though not by me."

"Why are they different colors?" Fluttershy asked. "Is it like Vivillion?"

"No," Belle answered. "The one with the golden scales is a Shiny Pokémon. They're basically the same as normal Pokémon, except they have different coloration."

"Neat," Pinkie said with a smile.

"Greetings, your highnesses," Queen Oceania said as she approached Celestia, Luna and Twilight. "I'm glad to see you all are well," she smiled at the younger Princess. "Especially you, Princess Luna."

"Queen Oceania," Celestia greeted with a smile. "And I'm glad to see you're in good health as well."

"Yes," Luna agreed. "It has been... quite some time, since last we laid eyes on you."

Oceania, along with Carapace, were the only world rulers, and some of the only beings, who remembered Luna from before her fall from grace. Changeling rulers were long lived beings, and Oceania was tied to the forces of the sea the same way Celestia and Luna were the Sun and the Moon.

"Allow me to introduce my advisor for these meetings, Lady Cynthia, and her-"

There was a flash of blue and Gene and Belle were suddenly standing in front of the Milotics.

"Cynthia?" Gene asked hopefully.

The Shiny Milotic's eyes widened. "Gene?" She asked. "Is that... of course it's you, what else would you be?"

Gene and Belle smiled. "Cynthia!"

The Milotic laughed as the Gardevoir and Gallade hugged her, and she did her best to return it by wrapping her tail around them.

"How have you two been?" She asked. "It's been too long since we last talked."

Gene smiled and pulled away from his friend. "Long story short, met some ponies, met some Pokémon, met Arceus, helped out a Princess... oh! And our weddings back on."

Cynthia's eyes widened again and a smile split her face. "That's wonderful!" She exclaimed. "

"We know," Belle said. "And we'd still love for you to officiate it."

Cynthia chuckled and hugged the two again. "It would be my pleasure,"

"Ahem."

The trio stopped and looked back towards the Princesses, all three of them, plus Queen Oceania, were smiling.

"As much as I hate to interrupt such a heartwarming display," Celestia said. "We do need to move this along."

"Oh... of course Princess," Gene said sheepishly. "Sorry everyone."

"It's no problem Gene," Celestia assured. "I can understand being excited to see your friend again."

Gene smiled and stepped off to the side. "We'll catch up later," Belle said before following him.

"Looking forward to it," The Sinnoh Champion said with a smile.

"Yes... well... I assume you'll be staying on your ship for the duration of your stay..." Luna began. "Or would you like us to prepare rooms for you and your guards?"

Oceania smiled. "Our ship will be just fine, thank you though. I would like it if I could have a guard to show me around, it's be quite some time since my last visit."

"But of course," Celestia said, motioning forward one of her guards.

"See you soon Princesses," Oceania said as she followed the guard.

Cynthia turned to Gene and Belle and waved using her tail before following after the Queen.

"That..." Korrina said, staring at the Champion. "That was Cynthia... THE Cynthia."

"Yep," Gene said with a smile. "And, besides my team, one of my closest friends."

"So, looks like you found someone to marry you two huh?" Pinkie said with a grin, pulling a checklist from somewhere.

"Yep, she was going to the first time, and she's going to finish the job here," Belle said.

"That's great!" Pinkie shouted. "With an officiate, Oran Berries for the cake, your team back together, and Rarity being just about done with your dress and tuxedo,"

"Just need to put on the finishing touches," Rarity said.

"We can have your wedding later this week!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I'll talk with the Princess about getting a location tomorrow morning, but in the meantime," She thought for a second, then gasped. "The rings!"

"Don't worry Pinkie," Rarity said. "I have some high quality diamonds back at my shop we can get cut to fit... though we may need to get the bands specially made."

Gene and Belle smiled at each other and shared another kiss. "You two are getting married?" Nick asked in surprise, since he had assumed that they were like him and Elena, a trainer and his Pokémon who had only just fallen in love.

"Uh huh," Belle replied. "We tried once back on Earth. Things...didn't go too well."

"I can only imagine," Elena muttered under her breath.

Celestia smiled. "So far so good," She said. "Next to arrive would likely be the Deer… Though I don't know if they will be arriving by train or by airship. After them would most likely be our good friends from Saddle Arabia. They shall be coming in by air… Then the Diamond Dog, and finally the Buffalo. Though I don't know when Arceus is coming, nor Cadance for that matter, seeing as she is dealing with King Sombra, again..."

"WHAT?!" Twilight, as well as the rest of the former Elements screamed.

Celestia winced. "Oh... right, I forgot to mention that didn't I?"

"Sombra's alive?!" Rainbow Dash screamed. "How?! The Crystal Heart blew him up!"

"Who's Sombra?" Belle asked.

"It would appear we were mistaken, Sombra somehow survived the damage dealt to him by the Crystal Heart," Celestia explained. "And he's recently been using Pokémon to attack the Crystal Empire."

"What are you guys talking about?" Korrina asked.

"How come you didn't tell me?!" Twilight shouted. "Shining Armor and Cadence are my family! I should be there helping them!"

"Twilight, don't worry," Celestia said. "Arceus sent one of the Legendaries to assist them... Yveltal."

The Pokémon paled at the name. "A-as in the Pokémon of Death?" Nick asked, he had learned about the mythology of the Destruction Pokémon back in Kalos.

"Death?!" Twilight shouted.

"Twilight, please calm down. I have faith in Shining and Cadence, and Arceus has faith in Yveltal."

Twilight was about to say something when Luna interrupted. "It would appear our next visitors have arrived."

Celestia and Twilight turned to see another airship arriving. This one was more streamlined and elegant than the others, the metal from which it was crafted shined brightly in the sunlight.

"Ah, that would be the Deer," Celestia said. "Twilight, we'll continue this conversation later."

Twilight wasn't happy about it, but (with much difficulty) she accepted it and recomposed herself.

It took a few minutes for the Deer to anchor their ship but once they were safely secured to the sky dock, a half dozen guards, Does and Stags, exited and announced the arrival of Empress Serva of Stagland.

Serva was a tall, thin Doe, she wore a wooden crown that resembled antler as well as flowing green robes. Walking beside her was a Lucario. A peculiar looking Lucario with very large eyebrows, and also looked notably older than Korrina, Lucario, and Elena.

"No way," Korrina gasped, recognizing the eyebrows.

"Hello Princess Celestia, it is good to see you again," Empress Serva smiled at Twilight and Luna. "And it is good to meet you, Princess Luna, and you Princess Twilight."

"Charmed," Luna responded.

Serva smiled. "I'd like to introduce my advisor and personal friend, Gurkinn," she said, motioning to the elderly Lucario, who bowed slightly.

"Grandpa?" Korrina asked, stepping forward.

Gurkinn turned towards Korrina in shock. "Korrina?" He asked, recognizing her voice, as well as the skater gear she was wearing.

Korrina smiled. "Grandpa!" She rushed forward and hugged her grandfather. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Gurkinn chuckled and returned his granddaughters embrace. "I'm happy to see you too Korrina... and I see you received our families heritage as well,"

Korrina looked down at her paws. "I guess so," she mumbled, though now that she thought about it, her form certainly made sense. After all, her family were descendants of the first person to ever Mega Evolve a Pokémon, and that Pokémon was a Lucario.

It was at this point that Lucario stepped forward. "It's good to see you again sir."

Gurkinn smiled. "And you as well Lucario, I trust you've been taking care of Korrina?"

Lucario looked to his trainer guiltily, she refused to meet his gaze. "I've... done my best."

Gurkinn looked between his granddaughter and Lucario. He could tell something was off between these two, and he could tell it was something personal, which meant he could either ask now and embarrass his granddaughter, or wait and ask her the next time he could talk to her alone.

After a moment's contemplation, he decided not to embarrass her in front of whom he assumed were her friends.

"Korrina," He began. "I promise we'll talk more after the meeting, but for now, I have to go."

Korrina sighed. "Alright grandpa, but I'm holding you to that."

Gurkinn chuckled. "Of course." He turned back to the Princesses. "My apologies your highnesses."

"No need to apologize," Celestia assured.

Serva smiled and walked over to Korrina. "So, you're the young Gym Leader I've heard so much about."

Korrina smiled. "I guess I am, your highness."

Serva giggled. "Your grandfather speaks quite highly of you."

Korrina glanced at her grandfather and smirked. "Is that so?"

Serva nodded. "Oh my yes, he's told me everything about you, I'm quite impressed with all you've managed to accomplish at such a young age."

"Oh, go on," Korrina said, flattered.

Gurkinn cleared his throat. "Well your majesty, I presume we should prepare for the meeting?"

Serva blinked once, then nodded. "Of course, I cannot wait to meet this Arceus fellow," She trotted off towards the castle. "Tell me again, what does he look like?"

As the Deer followed after their Queen, Celestia sighed. "Speaking of Arceus, I wonder why he hasn't arrived."

"Perhaps he wishes to be fashionably late?" Luna suggested.

Celestia shook her head. _He'd better not wait to appear in the meeting room once we've all gathered._

While Celestia was wondering where Arceus was, as well as who would be arriving next. A guard rushed out of the castle and up to the Princesses.

"Your highnesses," He began. "There's an... issue, with one of the visiting dignitaries."

Celestia sighed. "What's gone wrong now?" She asked.

The guard leaned in an whispered something into the Princesses ear. When the Princess pulled back, her eye twitched and her mane seemed to glow a little brighter for a second. "... I see."

* * *

"-And all shall bow to the combined might of the Zebrican army and the Pokémon Liberation Army! Led by the glorious Commander Sev!"

"Will someone please shut him up!" Empress Victoria shouted, he royal guards had been attempting to capture the snake and take the megaphone from him for the past ten minutes. For whatever reason, no matter how close they got to him, he always managed to slip away from them.

"What in Harmony's name is going on here?!" Celestia asked as she ran into the room.

"That snake," Carapace said, rubbing his temple. "Has been screaming propaganda for the last twenty minutes!"

Celestia frowned. "Where's Trotankhamun?"

"Some of his guards said he went out to see a bit of Canterlot before the meeting," Victoria replied.

"Lightning Dust?" Celestia inquired.

"Went to quote, "Visit some of her old hang outs,"," Carapace replied.

"General Lia?" The Princess asked hopefully.

Both rulers shook their heads. "We can't find her."

Celestia groaned.

"Princess?"

Celestia turned to see Twilight and Rainbow Dash standing behind her.

"I thought I told you to wait with Luna back at the platform," Celestia said.

"We thought you could use some help dealing with... what's happening anyway?" Rainbow inquired.

"Lord Arceus shall bless my army with unbeatable strength and I shall rule with an Iron Tail!"

"That," Celestia said. "That is what I am dealing with."

"What the heck is he-"

"We shall lead this world into a new golden age!" Sev continued to rant, somehow managing to avoid the Griffins, Pegasi, and Changelings trying to catch him. He even somehow managed to avoid Roll who looked more than ready to skin him, if the look she was giving him was any indication.

"I gotta admit, that snakes got skill," Dash said in admiration.

"Not helping Rainbow," Twilight deadpanned.

"None can stop the might Commander Sev!" The Seviper announced with a laugh. "Mountains tremble befo-!" he didn't get to finish as he was promptly snapped up in a pair of large orange jaws.

"Thank you, Apocalypse," X sighed, rubbing the side of his head.

Princess Celestia stared in abject horror at the large dinosaur who had just seemingly eaten Commander Sev.

There was a muffled cry from within the Tyrantrum's mouth. "Let me out of here you beast... it's slimy!"

"Hah hah! Good job Apocalypse!" Carapace said with a smile.

"Are you gonna eat him?" Victoria asked, flying up to and knocking on the Tyrantrum's jaw. "Just out of curiosity." She was REALLY hoping the answer was yes.

"Do not eat me you cretin!" Sev shouted from inside Apocalypse. "Arceus will punish you for a thousand years if you eat me!"

Apocalypse seemed to consider this for a second, then bent down and opened his jaw, allowing a very perturbed and slimy Seviper to fall out (the other occupants of the room groaned in disappointment at that).

"You will pay for that!" Sev shouted.

Before he could do anything else, Celestia walked up to Sev, took the megaphone from him, and picked him up in her magic.

"You can be assured King Trotankhamun will hear about this," She warned. "But in the meantime, guards!"

A pair of Pegasi guards flew to meet the Princess. "Take him to wherever the rest of the Zebrican company is staying... and keep a guard posted outside his room."

The guards reluctantly took hold of the slimy, squirming Seviper and made their way out of the room.

"You'll rue the day you messed with Commander Sev!" He shouted as he was carried away. "Rue I say!"

Celestia turned to the rest of the rooms occupants. "I am so sorry about that everyone, I had no idea he was so... egotistical."

"Try insane," Inti muttered under her breath. She had no idea how the snake had managed to avoid every last one of her attacks. Including Shockwave, which was supposed to be impossible to dodge.

Celestia sighed again. She was REALLY going to have to speak with Arceus about that one.

"Yes well, I must return to the landing platform. The Saddle Arabians will be arriving soon and I must be there to meet them." With that, Celestia left the room, followed by Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"You should've just eaten him," Azisa said. "I don't think there would've been a great loss if you had."

Apocalypse shook his head. "I can't eat him, he's a poison type. What if he gave me indigestion or food poisoning?"

"I... you're a dinosaur!" Carapace shouted.

"Can you even get food poisoning?" Inti asked. "You never did before as far as I remember, and you've plenty of things that you probably shouldn't have."

Apocalypse shrugged.

"It's going to be one of those days..." X groaned.

* * *

Celestia, Twilight and Rainbow arrived back at the platform just a few moments before another airship arrived.

This one was was gold and royal purple, with an intricate design and silver rimming. A silver star over a horizontal golden crescent moon was set on the sails.

"The Saddle Arabians," Luna stated. "As extravagant as always."

The ship landed and was anchored just like the rest and the guards who exited the ship announced the arrival of King Faris and, to Celestia's surprise, Princess Amira.

The first to exit the ship was an elder stallion with a light silver coat and a mane of a slightly darker grey, the saddle he wore across his back was gold and royal purple, just like the coloration of his ship. And he wore a golden crown with purple gems set in it.

Twilight was surprised to see that the mare who was apparently the Princess was the same mare who had come to watch her perform in Ponyville. Looking closer, Twilight noticed the stallion who had accompanied her standing at the front of the guard contingency.

The Princess wore the same blue and purple outfit she had worn the last time Twilight had seen her.

"King Faris," Celestia greeted. "I'm glad you could make it."

The stallion nodded. "Yes well, I found it necessary to come and speak out against what has been forced onto us by this Arceus," Faris glanced at the Pokémon. "I felt compelled to fight for our way of life."

Celestia nodded, then smiled at Amira. "Princess Amira, what a wonderful surprise, I did not expect you to come."

"I figured it was about time my daughter start learning the finer details of ruling a country," Faris explained.

Amira sighed. "It's good to see you as well Princess."

Celestia smiled, she had been working to set Amira up as a ruler who would bring about change to the old traditions of Saddle Arabia, as while there was nothing wrong with traditions, it would be bad for a nation to remain completely unchanging, especially when the rest of the world was changing, and she didn't just mean the Pokémon.

The rulers exchanged a few more pleasantries before Faris excused himself and his daughter, saying that they were going to go speak about the situation in private before the meeting.

"That just leaves the Diamond Dogs, the Buffalo, and Cadence," Luna said. "I do hope our niece isn't in too much trouble, I would have thought she would have arrived by now."

"I hope so too," Twilight said under her breath.

The group didn't have to wait long before another airship appeared on the horizon. What struck out about this one was its simplicity, it had no vibrant colors, instead it was a light grey, the only thing that stuck out about it was the design on the sail.

A mountain, with paw holding aloft a crown underneath it.

"I was expecting something more... flashy," Twilight admitted.

"Why is that?" Luna asked.

"Well, I know that the Diamond Dogs are largely a mining based culture, and I assumed they would use the gems they mine to decorate their ship."

Celestia nodded. "A good prediction Twilight, but let me ask you this," She smiled and turned to Twilight. "What would be your number one fear if you brought a gem ladened airship to another country and left it unattended, even if it was in a castle?"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, then laughed. "I guess I didn't think of that."

The Princesses watched as the ship was anchored into place and a half dozen Diamond Dog guards filed out of the ship. The last one to exit held a scroll in his paws.

"Announcing the arrival of his majesty, King Grimm Halfpaw, the king under the mountain."

As the introduction was completed, a single Diamond Dog with a light brown coat exited the ship. He wore a suit of light blue armor, which had a blue starburst gem set in the chestplate. At his side hung a broadsword, a red gem ladened in its hilt. His most distinguishing feature, however, was that he was missing two fingers on his left paw.

"Princess Celestia, what a pleasure it is to see you again," Grimm said with a smile. "And likewise to finally meet you Princess Luna, as well as you Princess Twilight."

"Glad to see you as well King Halfpaw, how go things in Canida?" Celestia inquired.

The King under the mountain waved his paw. "Eh, a few incidents with the Pokémon on the first few days but for the most part order has been kept." The Diamond Dog gritted his teeth. "I wish that this Arceus fellow had given a warning before dropping the Pokémon on our heads, a few of the burrowing ones caused cave ins in a few of our mines and nearly caused a structural disaster near one of our cities."

"I hope no one was injured," Celestia said.

"Hmph, nothing fatal, but almost Princess, almost." The king shook his head. "Anyhow, we've had a long flight so I think I'll rest up a bit before the meeting."

"Of course, I'll send a guard to fetch you before we begin."

"Much obliged." With that, the Diamond Dogs left for the castle, but he decided to add a little bit of good news on his way. "But for all its worth, this isn't the worst that's happened before. I can certainly see some of the Pokémon being something we could greatly benefit from."

Celestia smiled at the news as the king continued towards the castle.

"Well, I must say he was quite the gentle... dog," Rarity said, finishing with an awkward smile.

Celestia nodded. "The Diamond Dogs of Canida are nothing like the ones you've encountered."

Twilight nodded and was about to say something she had learned about Canida when a ruckus in the streets below drew her attention.

From this height, she was unable to hear what the ponies below were saying, but she did manage to make out one word. Stampede.

"Princess?" Twilight began. "I think the Buffalo are here."

Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked down at Canterlot, she could just make out a faint dust cloud drawing nearer the castle.

"Ah Thunderhooves, right on time." Celestia's horn glowed gold for a second before she loosed a teleportation spell.

Once the light from the spell cleared, Celestia found herself standing in front of the castle gate.

"Open the gate," She told the guards bowing behind her. "We're about to have more guests."

Celestia watched for a moment as the dust cloud rounded a corner and came barreling towards the castle.

The guards tensed when the Princess didn't move out of the way of, nor did she seem to worry, the cloud barreling towards her.

When the dust cloud was only a dozen or so feet from the Princess, and the guards were all but ready to push her out of the way. The cloud just stopped.

It took a moment for the dust to settle, but once it did Celestia was finally able to see the beings who had caused it.

"Chief Thunderhooves," Celestia greeted with a smile. "Glad you could make it."

The Buffalo snorted. "Princess Celestia," He said with a bow. "We bring good tidings from Appleoosa, and I too am glad to be here."

Celestia looked over the half dozen or so Buffalo warriors Thunderhooves had brought with him.

"Why don't I have my guards show you and your bulls to your rooms? I assume you must be tired after such a long journey."

"You are most gracious, your highness," Chief Thunderhooves said.

"It's no trouble Chief," Celestia had only met with the Buffalo tribes a few times, but she noticed their leaders always held her in high esteem.

Celestia motioned for one of the guards to take the Buffalo into the castle, once that was done, the Princess sighed and flew back to the landing platform where her sister and the others were waiting.

"Sorry about that," She apologized. "But the good news is that everyone's here now except Arceus and Cadence."

"You would think a being like Arceus would be able to show up on time," Luna said.

Celestia was about to respond when a flash of gold illuminated the platform. Sighing, Celestia turned to see that Arceus had appeared in the center of the platform, Uxie floating next to him.

"_Greetings all,"_ Arceus said, approaching the Princesses. _"I am Lord... oh, hello Princess, where are the other rulers?"_

Celestia glared at Arceus. "Inside, and I thought we agreed you wouldn't do anything like that."

The Alpha Pokémon thought for a second. _"Let's see, no intimidation, no showing off, don't erase anyone from existence... nope, nowhere was it said that I couldn't announce myself."_

Celestia shook her head and instead turned to Arceus' daughter. "You are Lady Uxie correct?"

"_Yes Princess, I am Uxie, bringer of knowledge, and one of the Lake Trio of Sinnoh. It is nice to see you again."_

The Princess almost mentioned that her eyes were closed, but decided against it.

"Well, with you here we're only waiting on my niece," Celestia said. "She's running a bit late, so I think I'll go wait for her at the train station."

"_I shall as well,"_ Arceus said. _"In hopes that Yveltal accompanies them, or at least so I can receive an update on his status."_

Celestia took a deep breath. "Of course," She said with a nod, remembering how he treated the Legendaries.

* * *

"_I do not like this Princess,"_ Arceus said, watching the still empty train tracks. _"By all accounts they should have arrived by now."_

"Patience Arceus," Celestia said. "I'm sure they're alright, probably just a snow buildup on the tracks." The Princess felt like she was trying to convince herself more than she was Arceus.

Arceus shook his head. _"That does it,"_ He stated, stomping his hoof. _"I'm going to find Yveltal."_

"Arceus wait, you should-"

"_No more waiting Princess,"_ Arceus said. _"I wanted to handle that monster Sombra myself from the beginning, instead you convinced me to send one of my children after him. Now we both have no idea what is going on up there."_

Celestia wanted to retort, but she had to admit, Arceus had a point. In wanting to avoid having to involve him, she may have ended up endangering both their families in the process.

As Arceus began to track Yveltal's energy, he was surprised to find that the signature seemed to be close by, very close by in fact.

"_Princess? I think that-"_

"Dragon!"

Arceus was interrupted by the sound of screaming ponies. _"What now?!"_ he grumbled irritably. He wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever random problem decided to pop-up.

Celestia felt the same way herself. If a Dragon had appeared, now of all times... no matter what its intentions were, it wouldn't end well.

Exiting the train station Celestia turned her attention to the sky and spotted a red and black wyvern like creature flying towards the castle.

Beside her Arceus chuckled, his earlier irritation having seemingly completely vanished. _"There you are."_

Celestia turned to Arceus. "What do you mea..." The Princess's question died in her throat as the scenery around them seamlessly shifted from the train station back to the landing platform.

Trotting closer to the edge of the platform, Arceus watched as Yveltal came in for a landing. _"Princess, this is Yveltal,"_ He introduced as the Dark-type landed.

"Aunty!"

Celestia noticed that Yveltal had several beings on his back, Cadence fluttered to the ground and ran over to her, she was soon followed by Shining Armor.

Also accompanying the Destruction Pokémon was a Pokémon that looked like a large monkey...which was on fire, an Infernape, and one that seemed to be wearing a black trench coat. _Probably this 'John' Cadence told me about._ She thought. He seemed to move rather slow. As if his body was stiff or in pain. On the Infernape's shoulder was a small yellow spider-like Pokémon, a Joltik. And by the Infernape's side was a unicorn mare with a dark green coat, a silky black mane that was pulled back into a ponytail, light green eyes, a pair of square glasses on her nose, a braided tail that ended in a white bow, and a Cutie Mark depicting a large four leaf clover, with four small light green 'six pointed stars' behind it, and behind them was a large dark green twelve pointed star. Like John, she moved slowly.

Both the mare, and the Infernape looked like they had been in some kind of fight, and, from what she could see, Yveltal did as well. Bruises could be seen all across their bodies.

"_What happened to you?"_ Arceus asked Yveltal, leaning in and using his power to heal the Dark-type's wounds.

"_Thank you, father... The train… it was attacked,"_ Yveltal said. _"By King Sombra."_

Celestia gasped. "Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

Cadence nodded slowly. "He surprised us, but John and Yveltal managed to drive him back far enough so that they could..." Cadence's voice quivered at the end.

Yveltal chuckled. _"That stallion will not be bothering anyone ever again..."_

Arceus sighed with relief. _"That's good to hear, now why don't I send you back to the temple to get some rest? You've more than earned it my son."_

Yveltal nodded, and with another flash of gold, the Pokémon of Death disappeared.

"Cadence! Shining!" Cadence and Shining Armor turned in time for Twilight to grab the two and wrap her wings around them. "I'm so glad you're alright! The Princess _just_ told me about Sombra."

While Twilight chatted with her brother and sister-in-law, Celestia turned her attention to her own sister, who, along with Twilight and her friends, had exited the castle after Yveltal showed up.

"Not a Dragon?" Luna asked.

Celestia shook her head. "One of his."

Arceus, meanwhile, had turned his attention to John and the mare he was with. _"Heal Pulse."_

The wave of energy washed over the pair, healing their wounds. They both smiled as their wounds, and the pain, vanished. _"Now that that's taken care of,"_ Arceus said. _"I believe some introductions are in order."_

John nodded and turned to the Princess. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Lord Arceus… My name is John Williams, International Pokémon Police, it is a pleasure to meet you, and this," He reached out a hand and drape it over the green mare. "Is my marefriend Holly Heart." Holly Heart smiled nervously and bowed. John smiled with her and continued. "I'm looking forward to the relaxing life of politics while I'm here…" He paused for a moment, before adding. "Oh, and this little fellow," He pointed at the Joltik. "Is Volt. Please do not give him sugar..." Volt then let out a cute little snore. The fight with King Sombra must have made him tired.

"Relaxing life in politics...?" Rainbow muttered to herself.

"John's going to be our advisor during the meetings," Cadence explained.

Over with the rest of the group, Gene and Belle gave each other worried looks.

Celestia smiled and nodded. "Very good," She did a mental check to make sure everything was in order. "I believe that's everything. Luna? Please show Arceus and Cadence to the meeting room, I'll have the guards track down and alert the other rulers." Heading back towards the castle, Celestia added. "It's time for the Equus World Summit to commence."

* * *

Deep within Canterlot Castle, Arceus stood facing a pair of stone doors. _"So, this is it,"_ Arceus said.

"_I guess so,"_ Uxie replied. _"Don't worry dad, I'm sure everything will go... honestly? There'll probably be a lot of yelling at first."_ Uxie put a hand on her fathers shoulder. _"But I have confidence we'll be able to find a solution."_

Arceus sighed. _"I hope you're right... and Uxie? If I start acting... like how I did with Celestia when I first met her, stop me, okay?"_

"_Sure thing dad,"_ Uxie said with a smile. _"Now come on, we can't keep them waiting."_

"_I suppose not."_ Arceus stepped forward and the door swung open, revealing the Equus World Summit hall. The rest of the World Leaders and their advisors had already entered, Princess Celestia had asked Arceus to wait outside for a moment while she explained a few things to them.

Mainly that Arceus hadn't acted so rashly out of malice, that he had been unjustly imprisoned and had only just escaped, etcetera. Just some background that she hoped would help smooth things over a little bit.

As Arceus entered the room, every set of eyes turned to him, and the few conversations that had been going on fell silent.

"_Greetings your majesties,"_ Arceus said, making his way to an empty seat left of Princess of Equestria and right of Queen Oceania. _"I am Lord Arceus, and this is my daughter, Lady Uxie."_

"_Hello,"_ Uxie greeted.

"So you're the one who's responsible for the Pokémon's presence on Equus," Empress Serva stated.

"_Yes, and I would like to apologize for the trouble I've caused in doing so. I acted rashly upon my release and..."_ Arceus shook his head. _"I did not think my plan through."_

Celestia smiled, so far so good.

Emperor Golden Horn snorted. "I don't know what I was expecting when I heard a _god_ would be attending this meeting," He scoffed. "But I thought you would be a little more... impressive."

"Silence knave!" Commander Sev hissed from his place beside Trotankhamun. "None shall speak to Lord Arceus in such a manner!"

"Sev!" Trotankhamun snapped. "At least try and act civil, alright?"

Arceus chuckled. _"Truth be told I could have appeared in any form, be that an ordinary Pony or a swirling mass of energy, but this is the from I was born in and thus the one I call myself."_

"Enough idle chit-chat," Victoria said. "I think it's time we got to the issue here. We are going to need to deal with it first before we can even hope to make any progress."

Victoria turned to Arceus and pointed an accusatory claw at him. "Why did you bring the Pokémon here?"

"And us," Cynthia added. "Humans I mean, well former humans now."

Arceus looked over the assembled beings, some looking upon him with anger, some with curiosity, some with knowing, and some with admiration.

"_To protect them,"_ He said. _"Allow me to explain, long ago, over five thousand years in fact, I had full reign of my home world of Earth."_ Arceus paused for a moment to ensure there were no questions yet, then continued. _"Back then, humans and Pokémon lived as equals to one another, they worked together, lived together, and the world was peaceful."_

Arceus seemed to develop a darker tone. _"Until a single city in the Hoenn region changed everything, they treated the Pokémon not as equals, but as slaves. They forced them to work, to serve them, to... to 'service' their every need."_ Arceus shook his head. _"And when I went to... correct them, they were less than receptive of me,"_ Arceus chuckled. _"But rest assured that those who deserved it faced my Judgement and got what they deserved."_

"What did you do?" King Halfpaw asked, resting his elbows on the table and pressing his paws together.

"_As I said, they faced my Judgement,"_ He explained. _"After that... incident, some of my less faithful sages saw fit to remove me from power,"_ Arceus sighed. _"And that plane of existence."_

Celestia looked around the room and gauged the reactions of the various rulers. Most were keeping their expression blank, though Serva still wore a look of curiosity, and Sev appeared... angry.

"_It took five thousand and seventeen years, eight months, two weeks, five days, two hours, thirty six minutes and fourteen seconds for me to finally escape,"_ His eyes scanned the room and he continued. _"And during that time, during that entire time, all I was able to do was watch as my world fell apart. The humans began to treat the Pokémon as mere tools, taking the battles that made them grow and twisting them for their amusement."_ Arceus' breathing became more rapid. _"War and senseless violence set in, Pokémon were treated as second-class citizens, and even that is putting it nicely!"_

A golden glint flash in Arceus' eyes as he talked. Meanwhile, the former humans in the room remained silent, as whether they like it or not, what he was saying wasn't a lie. Anyone who read a history book back on Earth would know that what he was saying was the truth...at least the part about the wars and stuff like that.

"_One human created a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and wiped out tens of thousands of Pokémon in an instant!"_ Arceus continued. _"They attempted to use my Legendaries to further their own standings, tormenting and torturing my children!"_

"_Dad, calm down,"_ Uxie said, placing a hand on her fathers shoulder, only to pull it back as the energy emanating from him proved to be too hot for her to touch him.

"_And I remember every. Single. Second!"_ As Arceus said that, the room became less solid than before, and it appeared something had been lain over the room.

Images flashed before the assembled beings. Of stone slowly creeping up Regigigas' body, and crystals encasing Jirachi, of battlefields were Pokémon fought each other, of a flower like crystal machine, draining energy from the surrounding area.

"These... these are memories," Cadence said in realization.

The leaders watched as more images faded into view, they watched as more battles, between Pokémon and humans alike, raged on, they saw the first Pokéball being invented, and then used, they watched the mistreatment of hundreds of Pokémon, Cadence and a few of the others averted their eyes.

"_Then those damned organizations,"_ Arceus seethed.

They saw a man in an orange tweed suit, various illegal dealings being committed by men and women in black suits with the letter R on them.

John let out a low grown at the sight of them.

They saw a man in blue, dressed like a pirate, facing a man in red, one with Groudon and one with Kyogre, each Legendaries eyes glowing red as they screeched at each other.

They saw a blue haired man in a grey outfit, laughing insanely at a swirling portal before him.

They saw a white haired boy in a blue trench coat, an odd red and black gauntlet on his arm, facing off against Pokémon who's very souls seemed to radiate darkness.

They saw a green haired man wearing intricate robes laughing at a young, green haired boy, holding an injured Zorua in his arms. The sequence of images that followed, all relating to the two, made several rulers gasp.

They saw a man with vibrant orange hair, standing before the same machine from the earlier images.

"_And my children,"_

The scenes shifted to Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres trapped within orbs of electricity. To Celebi, her mind fogged with darkness as she tore apart the forest she called home. To Mewtwo and how he suffered at the hands of Giovanni. To Latios, sacrificing himself to stop the destruction that two thieves had wrought. To Jirachi, trapped in the center of a colossal beast.

"Enough!" Celestia shouted, the images quickly becoming unbearable. "You've made your point!"

At her words, Arceus stopped, the memories fading. Realizing he may have gone a bit overboard in his memories, he chuckled sheepishly. _"In one way, I suppose I have."_ The images disappeared as his eyes softened. _"But there's a second side to every coin."_

More images began to appear.

Of a young boy, no more than ten, shielding a Pikachu from a flock of Spearow, never once even showing a hint of wanting to run away even as dozens of razor sharp beaks were headed straight for him. Of the same boy, less than a year older, on Lugia's back, riding to save the Legendary Birds.

Of a black haired boy in a black and red outfit, wearing a white hat, riding on the back of Rayquaza to the city where Kyogre and Groudon fought.

Of a girl with large purple hair calming down and helping an injured Dragonite.

Of the same green haired boy (now a young man), helping various Pokémon.

Of a man with purple hair and a woman with an outrageously large red curl, standing against a Tyranitar as an Arbok and Weezing lead a herd of Ekans and Koffing away to safety, while the two humans continued to take attack after attack, till they couldn't even stand, yet they still continued to struggle.

More images blinked by, a man in a black trench coat, similar to the one John wore, facing off against a squad of Rocket Goons with a Luxray and an Absol. The Infernape stared wide eyed at the image.

Of the same white haired boy from before, playing a gentle tune from a flute sitting next to a Makuhita that shivered as darkness seeped from its body.

Of a young man conversing with a group of school teachers, while an Absol and a Sylveon played with the students nearby.

Of a boy with gentle emerald eyes, holding a scared, wounded Zorua in his arms, comforting the Pokémon as he walked through a forest. The Chesnaught's eyes widened at the image, before softening at the memory.

Of a young boy on the banks of a river, snuggling with an Espurr, the small Pokémon comforting the distraught boy as best as it could.

Of a Pokémon Ranger, walking alongside a golden Arcanine, holding a crying Kirlia in her arms, comforting the Pokémon.

Of a young girl, cradling an Eevee as she ran from a pair of red suited men, exiting from whatever building they were in just in time.

Of a blond haired boy, holding a sleeping Houndour in his arms as he walked down the path, a Kirlia at his side.

And so memory after memory played, images of countless humans and Pokémon helping each other, respecting each other, co-existing peacefully together, just as Arceus had intended for it to be all those millennia ago.

"_I had originally planned, on the day of my eventual escape, to obliterate the humans for what they had done."_ John, X, Cynthia, and Gurkinn all froze, while Sev smiled. _"But... I couldn't. I couldn't punish the innocent, the heroes, for what the worst of their race had done,"_ Arceus explained.

"_I sought to preserve humanity's goodness, while cutting off the darkness that stemmed from it,"_Arceus chuckled quietly. _"Such an odd race, capable of such horrors, and yet such greatness as well."_

The former humans smiled, while Sev frowned slightly, but quickly shook his head _It is not my place to to question Lord Arceus' will,_ he thought.

"Well why didn't you just retake your own world?" Emperor Golden Horn asked. "You claim to be more than powerful enough to do so."

"_While that may be true Emperor, the humans would not have taken too kindly to me wresting control from them, especially the likes of those I have just shown you,"_ Arceus shook his head. _"Could I have reconquered Earth? Forced my rule unto the humans? Of course I could have, I'm a God, and the one who created them and their world at that."_

The Alpha Pokémon sighed. _"But they would have fought back, the bad ones would have lead the movement against me. Sure, some humans would have sided with me, N perhaps, and the remaining followers of my religion, but more would have stayed neutral. And the resulting battles would have seen the deaths of thousands if not millions, be they both human and Pokémon."_

"_And it all would be on my hooves,"_ Arceus said. _"In the end, by the time I retook Earth, I would have left a staggering mountain of corpses in my wake, while the Earth would have been left charred and smoking from the war that would have ensued. It wouldn't be worth it. A Pyrrhic Victory like no other..."_

After that, no one spoke for a few moments. "I would like to propose a short recess," Empress Serva suggested. "So that we can... consider, what we have just seen."

"I second that," Cadence said.

"Third," Queen Oceania added.

Celestia nodded. "A short break would do us some good, we shall reconvene in an hour, see you all then."

With a shuffling of hooves, paws, claws, and feet, most of the leaders and their advisors left the room.

"That was... somewhere between touching and horrible," Twilight said, shaking her head, though inwardly a part of her wanted to curl up into a ball and cry after the first set of memories. She just couldn't understand how anyone could be so needlessly cruel, as the closest she had ever seen was Sombra, and even that paled in comparison.

"Indeed," Luna agreed. "We thought you said you spoke with Arceus sister."

"I did," Celestia said. "But... what he just did, he was presenting evidence."

"You think he could have gone with less traumatic memories," Cadence said, walking over to her aunts and sister. The look on her face was that of someone who had just seen something she could never un-see. "And for the record, John vouched for most of the memories. In fact, he was actually in one of them."

"I barely even recognize myself…" John pointed out, as he stared at his hand.

Celestia looked to where Arceus still stood, completely unmoving, Uxie floating next to him.

"Somehow I don't think we were the only ones disturbed by those memories," she sighed, shaking her head. For all it was worth, she was finding it harder and harder to fault Arceus for what he did (not that it excused how he did it). If something like that had happened to Equestria, she doubted she would have done differently...assuming moving the ponies to a new world was an option that is.

"What do we do now Princess?" Twilight asked.

Celestia looked at Twilight and saw the fear and pain in her eyes. "For now Twilight, go find your friends, I can tell you need them."

Twilight didn't even try to protest, instead she slowly walked out of the room, her eyes never leaving the still motionless form of Arceus.

"Cadence, Shining, why don't you go as well," Celestia suggested.

The princess and prince of the Crystal Empire looked at each other before nodding at Celestia and following after Twilight.

Celestia turned to Luna and was about to speak up when her sister interrupted. "Don't even think of asking me to leave."

Despite herself, Celestia chuckled. "Very well." She turned to Arceus and took a deep breath before walking over to him, her sister at her side.

"_Hello Princesses,"_ Arceus said quietly, his voice telling her that he wasn't all that focused at the moment. _"Did you need something?"_

Celestia and Luna looked at each other worriedly. "Are... are you alright?" Celestia asked.

Arceus shook his head. _"Of course, I usually keep the bad memories locked away, not healthy to dwell on such things right?"_ he chuckled. An empty humorless sound.

"Arceus," Celestia began. "Do you... do you truly remember everything you've ever experienced?"

"_Save for when my powers clouded my mind, before I birthed my sons,"_ Arceus replied.

"That is... a slightly horrifying thing," Luna commented.

"_Only when I have to remember,"_ Arceus responded.

Celestia sighed. "Arceus, the meeting won't reconvene for another hour, why don't you go be with your family."

Arceus blinked once before smiling softly. _"I think I shall,"_ he said. _"See you again soon Princesses."_In a flash of gold, Arceus and Uxie disappeared, leaving Luna and Celestia alone in the meeting room.

"Tia," Luna began. "What are we going to do?"

Celestia looked at her sister, sadness in her eyes. "What we were planning to do from the start Luna," She put a wing around her sister. "Convince the others to accept the Pokémon and hope they can live in peace here on Equus."

"Yes, but how, is the question."

"Anyway we can Luna," Celestia said. "Anyway we can."

* * *

"So Twi how'd it go?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, Twilight. What happened in there?" Rainbow added.

"Well… everyone now understands why Arceus did what he did… but it's hard to imagine that humans can be so cruel…" She answered.

"Details, darling," Rarity asked. "You're being very vague about what happened in there."

"What she means is that Arceus kind of… shocked us about what humans are capable of." Everypony turned to see Cadance and Shining Armor walking to them. Along with John and Holly Heart.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it…" Twilight sighed.

"Was it really that bad?" Fluttershy asked.

"Arceus just had an emotional break down about how bad some humans can be," John answered. "It's understandable, considering all the horrible things humans have done."

"I just can't believe humans could be so cruel…" Twilight continued.

"Considering how Hastings acted when he learned about Belle and Gene, I can see them doing much more… violent things." Rarity said.

"I can vouch for that," John added. "I had to deal with those who committed a lot of those heinous acts for most of my life."

"So John, was that really what you looked like back on Earth?" Cadance asked. He nodded.

"Wait…" Rarity placed her hoof on her chin. "Where did your trench coat go?"

"Oh, he and Volt got bored at the meeting and ran off."

"He?" Rainbow asked. "You're trench coat is a boy?"

"Well no… he's a Ditto. He just transformed into that after the battle with King Sombra."

"Then what's a Ditto?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Dittos are pink blobed Pokémon that can transform into almost anything." The group turned to see Gene and Belle approaching them.

"Oh, Cadance," Twilight smiled. "Let me introduce you to Belle and Gene."

"It's nice to finally meet you Princess Cadance," Belle smiled. "Twilight has told us a lot about you."

Cadence smiled in return. "It's nice to meet you two too, and please, just call me Cadence."

"So Twilight, I take it your time with Pokémon has been better than ours?" Shining asked.

"About that," Twilight stared at them annoyed. "I'm still mad at you two for not telling me about King Sombra."

"Like we said before Twilight, we're sorry." Cadence frowned. "We had a lot on our plates. Between all the crystal ponies and King Sombra attacking. Not to mention getting a letter out is harder when you don't have a Dragon."

"Just look at the bright side, Twilight. He's dead!" Pinkie stated happily, before pausing at what she said. "Wow, that sounds so messed up now that I think about it."

"Dear Arceus, she reminds me of Volt." John muttered.

"Yeah… Anyways, Twilight. How have you been?" Shining asked.

"Mostly good. The whole Pokémon thing is just more stress than anything, but my friends have been helping."

"We've pretty much been dealing with rampaging Pokémon or crazy ponies using Pokémon for one reason or another," Rainbow added.

John let out an annoyed sigh. "Great, there are those who would use Pokémon here too?"

"Not all ponies are that nice, John. Remember Winter Breeze and Green Horn?" Holly timidly reminded.

"Who?" Rarity asked.

"Just two stallions that John had to put in their places. Not to mention he was still recovering from his injuries from his first fight with King Sombra at the time…" Shining answered.

"Injuries?" Gene asked.

Stepping forward, John pointed at his stomach. A massive, yet faint, scar could be seen. Everypony let out a gasp.

"Don't worry," He said, before any of the could ask some questions. "It doesn't hurt, and healed up quite nicely."

"But… But… what could even do that?!" Gene asked.

"A Gengar that King Sombra had taken over." He answered. "Didn't help that said Gengar was trained by Agatha, former Elite Four member."

"Wait… aren't Pokémon supposed to be durable?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, but King Sombra used his magic to… to… Sorry, it's getting hard to talk about what King Sombra does to Pokémon. Mind if we… change topics?"

"Of course, John. We don't need to talk about what happened if you don't want to," Holly said, placing a hoof on his side.

"Don't they just make the cutest couple?" Cadance asked.

"Oh, please, Princess? We asked you not to do that…" Holly blushed, hiding behind John.

"Speaking of couples, how has your time in Canterlot been?" Twilight asked, turning to Belle and Gene. "Any romantic plans yet?"

"We're going out for dinner later, and are planning on a romantic walk through gardens after that," Belle smiled at the thought.

"Well I wish the best for the two of you," Rarity said. "Can't wait for all of this to blow over so I can get back to work on your wedding gown and suit."

"Wait… Gene… Gene… That names sounds familiar…" John started. Belle and Gene gave each other a look again. "Ah… I remember now. Gene Phillips."

Gene gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Don't. Call me that."

"...Sorry." John started. "No need to get angry, I was one of those cops that didn't care about what you were doing with your Pokémon."

Gene glared at John for another second before sighing. "Sorry, I'm just sick of people treating me like a criminal because I love Belle," He shook his head. "And I don't want anything to do with my _mother_ so..."

"No need to continue. Like I said before, I don't really care what you do with her. As long as you're both happy… and as long as you're not really hurting her. It's the reason you're not in jail..."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Gene asked.

"I was asked to track you down, but said no because after reviewing your case I knew you were doing nothing wrong. That and I had to raid a Team Rocket base, so…yeah, it was a pretty easy choice..."

Belle chuckled. "Well, thank you for that, but I doubt you could have arrested us anyway," She smiled. "We've gotten away from plenty of Rangers, and the International Police."

"Rangers and most other police officers don't have S.W.A.T. training, and neither have been dealing with Team Rocket for the last… I'd say thirteen years, give or take. That and you wouldn't see me coming."

"That might be true," Belle admitted. "But I would sense your mind, and I will do anything to protect Gene."

Before John could argue further, there was the sounds of a rumbling engine, and all eyes turned to see the Joltik known as Volt. He was riding a mini-motorcycle, and had on some cool looking shades. "They See Me Rollin'," He squeaked, as he drove into the room. "They hatin, come on baby see me-" He then gave a sharp turn and crashed into John's foot. Volt was launched from the mini-motorcycle and slammed into Gene's face. While the mini-motorcycle flipped over and melted into a pink blob.

For a moment everyone was silent, then Gene sighed and pulled the Joltik off his face, holding Volt just at eye level. "I don't remember Webber being this... hyper, when he was a Joltik."

"Thanks for catching me." Volt said, before turning quickly to the pink blob on the floor. "Flubber, operation Awesome was a failure! Quick! Plan B! Plan B!" He then jumped off of Gene's hand and spit some webs in the air, using them as a parachute as he drifted down. Flubber then transformed into a Drifloon, which Volt grabbed onto before they slowly floated out the door.

"Do me a favor. Never give them sugar. Like… ever." John deadpanned.

"I like them." Pinkie started. "So… Cadance, are you and Shining going to go to the Gala after the meeting is over?" She asked happily. "The Princess asked me to set it up, if everything goes well that is."

"You're hosting a Gala after this?" Shining asked, before smiling. "Of course we'll come, Twilight's told us all about your parties Pinkie."

"And the reception for our wedding was a blast," Cadence added.

Twilight smiled, but frowned when she noticed the clock on the wall. "Shoot, the meetings going to be starting up again soon."

Cadence sighed. "Oh well," She looked back to the rest of the ponies and Pokémon. "It's been nice meeting you all, or just seeing you again, as it might be." She smiled at Gene and Belle. "And good luck with your wedding you two."

The pair smiled.

"Come on Shining, John," Cadence said. "Time to get back to politics."

Twilight bid her friends farewell as well before trotting after them.

"Guys?" Pinkie asked. "What do you thinks going to happen at these meetings?"

"What do ya mean Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, what if Arceus agrees to move everymon to a different world, obviously he's not going back to Earth, but still." Pinkie's mane deflated slightly at the thought.

Several of the others frowned. "That... that ain't gonna happen... right?"

"I don't know," Gene admitted. "I hope not, I happen to really like you girls."

"Aww, thanks Gene," Pinkie hugged the Gallade. "I like you guys too."

The others chuckled but agreed with Pinkie's statement. "And besides," Rarity said. "I've put a lot of time into your outfits, and I'm not letting something as trifle as a god stop me from seeing you both in the finished results."

This brought another round of laughter from everyone.

"I'm not kidding," Rarity said with deadly seriousness.

* * *

The various rulers of the various countries of Equus, and Lord Arceus, had reconvened in the meeting hall and were currently in the process of figuring out what to do about the Pokémon. Having mostly moved on from why he did what he did. But one question still hung in the air.

"Why did you bring the humans?" Grimm Halfpaw asked. "If you were so upset with them, why did you bring any with?" The Diamond Dog looked to Cynthia, John, X, and Gurkinn. "No offense."

Arceus sighed. _"I thought I explained that. I said I wanted to preserve what was good about the old world, this included a fair number of humans, the ones I showed in my memories were only a few."_

Sev grumbled from his seat next to Trotankhamun, he was torn between speaking out against Arceus, and voicing the truth about humans.

"_Heroes such as Ash, N, Ruby, Wes,"_ He smiled at Cynthia. _"The champions,"_

The Milotic smiled back.

"_Those who were kind to Pokémon, such as young X here, and many more,"_

The Chesnaught sat up a little straighter at the compliment.

"_And of course, Cresselia would have killed me had I separated those who loved their Pokémon... and I am speaking of the love that Princess Cadence is the Princess of."_

"Ah yes," Serva said. "I was told that such a union was illegal back on your homeworld."

X scowled slightly and grumbled something while Sev looked visibly sick.

"_Yes, but I'd prefer not to dwell on that now,"_ Arceus said. _"The humans I brought with, as I said in my message, were the ones who were good and kind despite the world they lived in, thus, I rewarded them."_

"We've gone over this already," Victoria said. "Let's get to the real reason we're here," She gazed around the room and continued. "The Pokémon are on Equus, they're in every country, and they're like nothing we've ever seen before." She turned to Arceus. "But that's necessarily a bad thing. So the question is, what do we do?"

Emperor Golden Horn snorted. "I say the Pokémon are too dangerous to stay here, if I understand you correctly, even some of the smaller ones are capable of killing."

"_So is every Pony, Griffin, Minotaur or Changeling, given the right circumstance,"_ Arceus argued.

"That doesn't change the facts. Pokémon are still dangerous, and they do not belong in Equus."

Arceus sighed. _"While there may be some truth in that, given enough time you will find the Pokémon are quite helpful."_

"And what makes you think we need their help?" King Faris asked. "We've done just fine without them."

"_Then what would you propose I do?"_ Arceus asked. _"Because I will not be going back to Earth, ever."_

To Arceus' surprise, every leader in the room nodded in agreement. "No," Carapace said. "You most certainly will not be going back to Earth."

"We wouldn't dream of forcing you and the Pokémon back there," Oceania added. "After what you've showed us, only a heartless monster would still insist on you going back there."

"_Well, um... thank you."_ He turned to King Faris. _"Then what do you propose I do?"_

The Saddle Arabian thought for a second, but it was Emperor Golden Horn who offered up an idea. "If you are as powerful as you claim to be Arceus," He began. "They why don't you move the Pokémon to another planet and shape it to your liking?" The Minotaur smiled.

"And then what?" John interrupted. "We Pokémon would be wished away to this new world? Well what about the relations we've made here? What would happen then? Would you let them fall apart? What about those Pokémon who've befriended those on Equus? Or those who have already fallen in love? What then? We, like back on earth, would have what little happiness we have now taken away as we moved again. No… I'm sorry, but I will not let that happen… I can't let that happen… I can't leave the one I love, just because we all can't see eye to eye."

For a moment, everyone stared at John in slight awe. "I can't believe I'm about to say this," Sev mumbled. "But I agree with the human, I will not leave my dear Lightning Dust."

Faris shook his head. "You've only been here two weeks, and you're claiming to be in love?"

"Yes," The Infernape and Seviper said at the same time.

"Love works in mysterious ways King Faris," Cadence said. "It is best not to doubt that which none can truly understand."

"And it's not just love," Twilight added. "You'd be destroying countless friendships if you did that."

"I still maintain that the Pokémon do not belong here," King Faris said. "Relationships aside, I do not want to be bullied into giving up our way of life."

"Ah be a little open minded here," Victoria said. "Look at me, I have an entire group of trained mercenaries serving under the Griffin crown to protect Griffinhiem and her people."

"As do I," Trotankhamun added. "Though mine aren't mercenaries."

"Me and my team are in construction." X quipped. "So far we have a good reputation just by being helpful around town." He then shuttered. "Especially with a Bug problem."

"I've heard that a few mining operations are using Pokémon actually," King Halfpaw said. "Some of them can be quite helpful, if you know how to ask."

Emperor Golden Horn snorted again. "Yes, helpful until they start rampaging, then innocents are put in danger by creatures the like of which they have little chance against."

"I wouldn't say that." Shining Armor spoke up. "The Crystal Guards in the Crystal Empire have been training nonstop since the Pokémon first arrived, so that we are prepared for when such a thing might occur, and I must say, they've improved quite a lot since they first started."

Serva smiled and shrugged. "Stagland has had very few problems actually. A few panicked Pokémon during the first few days, but we managed to calm them down and have been helping them settle in."

"Of course you wouldn't have trouble," Golden Horn said. "Your forest nation is more peaceful than Equestria, you probably just talked to the Pokémon."

Serva blinked in confusion. "Of course we did, what else were we to do? It certainly worked just fine."

"_You do understand that, no matter the Pokémon, they are all sapient don't you?"_ Arceus asked.

"Yes, and when they get mad, they tear down buildings," Golden Horn said. "I do not wish to have to deal with cleaning up after every mess they make, simply because they don't understand our ways."

"_They haven't had to follow any real written laws since before I was imprisoned,"_ Arceus said absentmindedly. _"The laws the humans made concerning them... treated them more like animals."_

"He's not wrong," Cynthia spoke up. "Most laws pertaining to trained Pokémon fault the trainer in case of an accident, and Pokémon couldn't be arrested in the same way humans were."

"Ah yes," Gurkinn said. "They were captured and given to a specialist for training."

Several of the leaders looked uneasy.

"_Anyway,"_ Arceus continued. _"It will take some time for my Pokémon to get use to being treated as equals."_

"Oh," Oceania blew a few bubbles in her sphere. "That's actually a bit depressing."

King Faris sighed. "You realize we're not getting anywhere?! We're suppose to be finding a way to solve this Pokémon problem,"

"_Do not refer to us as a problem,"_ Uxie said, arms crossed.

"Well sorry, but with everything that's happened in the past weeks, you have been a problem." Faris replied.

"We still haven't come to a decision yet," Golden Horn said. "I want the Pokémon gone."

"I sincerely doubt that's going to happen," Sev hissed. "Though I wouldn't mind if some of the less pure ones were removed."

"I'm going to assume you're talking about us Pokémon that used to be humans..." John stated annoyed.

Sev glared at the Infernape. "Indeed, I fought for years to save my brethren from the tyrannical reign of our human oppressors, and now I find that you _humans_," He spat. "Have taken on our forms? It is a disgrace to Pokémon everywhere, that you walk among us, that you could, eck, _breed_ with us."

Cynthia turned and glared at the snake. She knew how to use Ice Beam, and all she needed was a clear shot.

Arceus raised an eyebrow at the Seviper. _"Um... who are you exactly?"_

Sev stared at Arceus in shock and pain. "I... I am Commander Sev, leader of the Pokémon Liberation Army! Chose one of... of you!"

Arceus thought for a moment. _"Oh yes, of course,"_ Sev smiled in relief. _"Deoxys told me about you. He said something about a Pokémon version of Team Plasma, though minus N."_ The smile died an instant death.

John and X snickered as a look of horror that came across Sev's face, both of them quite enjoying how Arceus just wiped off the smug look on the snake's face.

"Oh dear," Trotankhamun said. "This isn't going to end well."

"We are not here to debate... whatever the snake is talking about," Faris reminded. "We are suppose to be discussing the fate of the Pokémon."

"Well I, for one, am getting tired of the same ideas being thrown back and forth," Victoria said. "I'd like to suggest that we end the meeting for the day and reconvene with new ideas and rested minds tomorrow."

"Seconded," Trotankhamun said, seeing Sev's breathing begining to rapidly increase.

"Third," Twilight chimed in.

Celestia looked at her in shock. "I think everyone could use a break," Twilight said.

"Very well," Celestia said. "We shall continue our discussions tomorrow. Until then, I bid you all a goodnight."

"That's my line, Tia." Luna added.

Celestia smiled and several of the leaders chuckled as they left the room, Trotankhamun being an exception, still trying to get through to Sev, who appeared to have gone catatonic.

Arceus sighed as he walked out of the room with Uxie at his side. _"I suppose I'm going to have to talk to him later."_

"_I think so,"_ Uxie looked back at the shock still serpent. _"Probably sooner rather than later too."_

Arceus nodded. _"Later. For now I'm just looking forward to spending time with my family."_


	45. Chapter 42

Gene stretched awake as the sunlight filtered into the room he and Belle were staying in and smiled.

Last night had been just perfect; he and Belle had gone out for dinner and after that had gone for a long romantic stroll through the Palace Gardens before returning to their room for a little fun.

Being able to do all that without getting suspicious glares from passers by had just been the icing on the cake.

Gene rolled over to look at Belle and found, to his surprise, that she wasn't lying next to him. This struck him as peculiar as Belle rarely got up before he did.

Sitting up in bed, he looked around the room for her and saw that the bathroom door was shut.

Sighing, Gene rolled back over and stared at the ceiling until Belle exited the bathroom.

Once she did, she wordlessly walked back over to the bed and lied down next to Gene, wrapping her arms around him as she did.

Gene smiled and pulled Belle closer to him, kissing her on the forehead. "Morning beautiful," He said.

"Morning," Belle replied, still sounding tired.

"You're up early," Gene said.

Belle sighed. "I woke up feeling kind of nauseous, but it turned out to be nothing but still."

"You're not getting sick are you?" Gene asked worriedly.

Belle rolled her eyes. "No, I'm sure it's nothing." Gene didn't react well whenever she or one of his other Pokémon got sick, more to the point, he coddled them until they got better.

"Alright," Gene said, still sounding unsure. "How have you been feeling since we got here anyways?"

The Gardevoir thought for a second before answering. "Not all that different, though the nausea is new, and I have been feeling a little sore _down there_ but I figured that was just because I'm not used to the new you yet."

Gene chuckled and kissed Belle again.

"Other than that? I've felt a little tired the past few days but we have been busy ever since we arrived."

"Alright," Gene said, pulling Belle into another kiss. "But if you start to feel any worse, let me know okay?"

Belle smiled. "I will."

After that the pair fell to talking, mostly about their upcoming wedding. "Just a little while longer," Gene said. "Then we'll finally be married."

"I can't wait," Belle said. "Though I'm not sure if much will change, I mean what else can? It's a new world, you're a Pokémon now,"

At that point something clicked in Gene's mind. _Holy Arceus is… is she,_

"-Which reminds me we have to talk to Cynthia soon." Belle smiled at the thought.

"Yeah," Gene said absentmindedly. "Belle? Did you ever feel like this back on Earth?"

"Like what?" She asked.

"Nausea, soreness, fatigue," Gene listed off.

Belle thought for a minute before answering. "Not all at once I suppose," She replied. "Why?"

"Just… considering something,"

Belle raised an eyebrow and peeked into Gene's mind. Once she saw his current train of thought, she froze up a little. _"I... I… You… oh,"_

"_Yeah,"_ Gene thought. _"Any idea on how we can be sure?"_

"I, um, I'm pretty sure you're right," Belle admitted. "Call it… intuition but… yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Oh, well… great!" Gene said with a smile. "I guess we should have seen this coming huh? I mean we talked about it but…"

The pair were sitting on the edge of the bed now, and Belle held one hand over her abdomen. "Is it… weird, that I feel kind of nervous? I mean after all we've been through…"

"Honestly? I'm feeling the same way," Gene smiled and placed his hand on top of hers. "But… I'm glad, I… well, I always wanted to start a family and now I can," He looked at her with soft eyes and added. "With you."

Belle smiled softly at her mate. "Oh Gene," She said gently. "I know you'll make a great father."

The two sat there for a while, just happy to be close to each other. "So," Gene finally said. "Do we tell everyone now? Or wait awhile?"

"Let's keep this quiet for now," Belle said. "At least until after these meetings are over, I'm not sure I trust some of these dignitaries."

Gene nodded and pulled Belle closer to him. "Alright, we'll wait after the wedding, then,"

"Then no more hiding," Belle finished.

* * *

"- So Serva took me on as a personal advisor," Gurkinn finished. He, Korrina, and Lucario, were all sitting around a small table, having breakfast.

After Korrina had told her grandfather about everything that had happened to them since arriving (minus a few more... touchy, subjects) he had told them about everything that had happened in Stagland.

Apparently, the entire country had more or less taken the Pokémon's arrival in stride and the Pokémon were who'd ended up there had already officially been granted citizenship.

_Lucky 'mons,_ Korrina thought to herself.

"And how have _you_ been Lucario?" Gurkinn asked. "So far I've only heard from my granddaughter."

Lucario and Korrina shared a look. "Just fine sir," Lucario replied flatly.

Gurkinn's ear twitched slightly. Back on Earth, he had never been able to control Aura like some humans were capable of, but he had been able to pick on peoples emotions, and ever since his transformation this ability had been increased ten fold.

Regardless of either of those facts, he could tell Lucario was hiding something from him. And that it had something to do with Korrina.

Gurkinn sighed. "What is going on between you two?" He asked. "You've been acting uncomfortable around each other ever since I arrived and I would like to know why. You two certainly didn't act like this back on Earth."

Korrina looked away from her grandfather, her gaze falling to the floor, while Lucario looked guiltily at his trainer. Neither of them said a word.

The Mega Evolution Guru sighed again. "Alright, since neither of you are willing to talk to me while you're both in the same room," Gurkinn looked between the two. "I'm going to talk with you separately, starting with you." He pointed to Korrina.

Walking over to his granddaughter, Gurkinn grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of her seat. "Hey!" She protested.

"Hay is for Ponyta… and apparently is used in place of fries here," Gurkinn remembered that odd fact. "Either way, I just want to talk to you."

Korrina mumbled something under her breath but followed her grandfather out of the room. Lucario watched them leave, and then turned back to his breakfast, unenthusiastically poking it with his fork, he sighed. "I am going to be in so much trouble."

* * *

"Please Korrina, I just want to know why you're acting like this," Gurkinn pleaded with his granddaughter, trying to get her to talk to him.

"I… look, this is between me and Lucario okay?" Korrina REALLY didn't want to discuss… this, with anyone, even her family.

"And I'd respect that," Gurkinn began. "If I didn't think you planned to let whatever happened just blow over, regardless of who it hurts in the process."

Korrina's eyes hardened. "I do NOT want to hurt Lucario," Korrina said, crossing her arms. "He's my friend and that's the last thing I want to do."

On the inside, Gurkinn smiled, he knew she felt that way, he just needed her to admit it. Outwardly, Gurkinn sighed and looked back towards the room Lucario was in. "Well you're hurting him now. If you don't face whatever's wrong, then everything is just going to get worse."

Korrina looked at her grandfather, he looked back at her with sadness in his eyes. Korrina's ears drooped. "Alright grandpa," Korrina finally said. "I… I'll tell you."

Gurkinn smiled and nodded as Korrina told him what she hadn't before. Everything that had happened in Manehattan, and what had happened once they got back to Ponyville.

"And now," Korrina finished. "Now I… I don't know what to do."

Gurkinn nodded slowly, he… hadn't actually expected that. "Well," He began. "Lucario has made it fairly clear how he feels about you. Now the question is if you feel the same way in return."

"He's a Pokémon grandpa," Korrina said with a sigh. "And I know I'm one too but… I wasn't back on Earth and…"

Gurkinn put a paw on Korrina's shoulder. "I understand," He said with a smile. "I personally never felt such unions were as abysmal as society made them out to be, but I understand."

"So… what do I do?" Korrina asked. "I don't want to hurt him but… I don't know how I feel about him."

"Such is the mystery of love my granddaughter," Gurkinn said with a sigh. "If you want my opinion on the subject, I say listen to your heart, and I'm quite aware that is very stereotypical advice."

Korrina grimaced.

"But," Gurkinn continued. "One thing I'm certain about is this, you and Lucario have a strong bond, it's what allowed him to Mega Evolve back on Earth, I'm almost certain that, if you two actually _talk_ to each other, and I mean really talk, at the very least, you will remain the closest of friends."

Korrina smiled softly. "Thanks grandpa," She said. "I still don't know how I feel about… that, but I know I don't want to lose my friend."

"Then talk to him," Gurkinn said. "After I have a conversation with the boy, of course."

* * *

Korrina raised an eyebrow at her grandfather. "Alright," She said suspiciously. _Why did that sound kinda… sinister?_

Lucario watched Gurkinn nervously as the elder Lucario closed the door behind him. "Now then," Gurkinn said. "Now that we're alone, why don't you and I have a little chat?"

"What about sir?" Lucario asked.

"You know you don't have to call me sir, don't you Lucario?" Gurkinn asked. "I don't know why you keep calling me that."

"You're the Mega Evolution Guru," Lucario explained. "You deserve at least that much respect."

Gurkinn smiled softly. "Very well, but if you ever feel comfortable enough call me by my name, I'm not going to be mad."

Lucario nodded. "What did you wish to talk about?"

"I hear you have a crush on my grandaughter," Gurkinn said bluntly.

"I… um, I… how much did Korrina tell you?" Lucario asked nervously.

"Manehattan, battle, she felt terrible, argument, kiss," Gurkinn listed off. "Am I missing anything?"

"N-no, that's about it," Lucario said.

"Well then," Gurkinn said.

"Well then what?" Lucario asked.

"Do you or don't you have romantic feelings for my granddaughter?" Gurkinn asked, tapping his foot.

Lucario cleared his throat. "I… I do, sir. Very much so and for quite some time now."

Gurkinn nodded. "I know, I just needed to hear you say it."

Lucario was slightly shocked Gurkinn wasn't angry at him in some way, and a little curious too, but he decided not to push his luck and didn't ask why.

"Now that that's out of the way," Gurkinn continued. "We can move on to the big question."

"Which is?" Lucario asked.

"What are your intentions for Korrina," Gurkinn answered. "Are you looking for a long term relationship or just a roll in the hay?"

Lucario growled and his expression hardened. "I would never even consider that!" Lucario snapped. "Korrina is my trainer, and more importantly, she is my best friend. And should our relationship ever," Lucario blushed and cleared his throat. "Advance to… that level. I would remain loyal to her and only her." He looked Gurkinn right in the eyes. "You should realize how seriously a Lucario takes that kind of commitment."

Gurkinn smiled and chuckled. "Of course I do, just needed to check. She IS my granddaughter." Lucario nodded. "One more question," Gurkinn said. "You're well aware that Korrina is currently… unsure, of her feelings."

"I pushed her too far when I kissed her," Lucario hung his head.

"Maybe, maybe not," Gurkinn said. "Either way, what's done is done. What I want to know is this, Korrina has no idea if or when she'll ever be comfortable towards the idea of being in a relationship with you," Lucario's ears drooped again. "How long are you willing to wait for her to make such a decision?"

"As long as it takes," Lucario said.

"And if she says no?" Gurkinn asked.

"Then I will hope that I do not lose my friend due to my actions," Lucario replied. "Regardless of everything else, I do not want to lose Korrina as a friend."

Gurkinn smiled. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear," He put a paw on Lucario's shoulder. "You have my blessing to pursue a relationship with my granddaughter, so long as you don't push her into anything or make her feel uncomfortable."

Lucario stared at Gurkinn in shock. "I…" He smiled. "I promise you won't regret this sir."

Gurkinn nodded and the two Lucario's made their way back to the room Korrina was waiting for them in. "Oh, and Lucario?" Lucario turned back towards the former human and noticed the hard look in his eyes. "It should go without saying that if you do anything to hurt her, I will do the same to you a hundred times worse. And that if you break her heart, I'll tear yours out."

Lucario gulped and nodded.

"Good," Gurkinn said. "Then let's not keep Korrina waiting any longer shall we?"

* * *

Cynthia smiled and took a sip of her coffee, she, Gene, and Belle were having a late breakfast and catching up before the meetings began again.

"Iris and Juniper are back in Ponyville right now actually," Gene said. "I know they'll be ecstatic to see you."

Cynthia chuckled. "Iris and I met up a few days before all of this started," Cynthia said. "And Juniper was helping me find any loopholes in the laws, but it will still be nice to see them... what are they now anyway?"

"Juniper's a Beheeyem," Belle said with smirk. "Which makes sense in hindsight, and Iris is a Haxorus... and she's Shiny just like you actually."

"Interesting," Cynthia said. "What are the odds of that happening?"

Gene smiled. "I stopped checking the odds after I woke up as a Gallade."

Cynthia chuckled. "Fair enough."

"So Cynth," Gene said. "How go's the meetings?"

The Sinnoh Champion smiled. "Not much progress so far, although honestly yesterday was more or less Arceus explaining himself and everyone voicing their opinions."

Gene nodded. "Speaking of which," Belle asked. "How does Queen Oceania feel about all of this?"

Cynthia smiled. "She, like most of the rulers I'd assume, was stressed in the first few days, some rampaging Gyarados and hungry Sharpedo caused some problems early on too, and a lot of the Water Pokémon said something about the seas being... odd, not like the ones back home."

"Well, as far as we know," Gene began. "Kyogre, Lugia, and Manaphy are all still at the temple in the Everfree, so that might be it."

"I considered that," Cynthia said with a nod. "Oceania was... interested, in speaking with beings who controlled the same forces she does."

"What do you mean by that?" Belle asked.

"Well... you know how Princess Celestia raises the sun? And Princess Luna raises the moon?" Cynthia asked rhetorically. "Queen Oceania has control of the ocean, currents, tides, all of that."

"Cool," Gene said. "What's Marelantis like anyway?"

"Beautiful city," Cynthia said. "The buildings are shaped from coral and the city itself is a gigantic coral reef."

"Wow," Belle said. "It sounds amazing."

"It is," Cynthia said. "And there's a small chain of islands not far from the city itself that have some island dwelling ponies on them," Cynthia chuckled. "And not like savage island dwellers, they're just a bunch of rather nice, laid back ponies."

"And the Pokémon?" Gene inquired.

"Actually, they've been settling in ever since Arceus' announcement. They all really like the coral reefs, and the islands," She smiled again. "Honestly I don't think I've ever seen this many Water Pokémon in one place before."

"Really?" Belle asked.

The Sinnoh Champion nodded. "Everything from Dewgongs, to Horseas, Lapras, Corsola, and Mantyke are hanging around. Heck, there are even Kabuto, Omanyte, Anorith, Cradily, and a pod of Wailords!"

"Wow," Was all either of them could say. "So I guess you'll be going back there after the meetings huh?" Gene asked.

Cynthia smiled and nodded. "Maybe not right after the meetings, but yeah, it's a great place, the Hippocampi could still use some help dealing with the Pokémon and..." Cynthia looked back at her serpentine body. "This is kind of awkward to drag around on land," She shook her head. "And I haven't learned how to float like Milotic does yet."

Gene chuckled, then sighed. "Promise us you'll keep in touch after you leave?" Gene said.

Cynthia smiled. "Of course," She smirked. "But only if you come and visit sometime, the Hippocampi do have a way to let air breathers into the city."

Gene and Belle looked at each other. "We'll try," Belle said. "But we may have some... responsibilities, that will prevent us from visiting in the immediate future."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Alright, I'll still keep in touch though."

The trio talked until a Hippocampi guard came into the room with a request from Oceania that Cynthia meet with her back at the ship.

"Looks like I've got to go you guys," Cynthia said. "We'll talk some more later alright?"

"Sounds good," Gene said. "See ya later."

"And good luck in the meetings," Belle added. "And if that snake says anything bad about you," She added. "Give him something to make sure he knows why you're a Champion."

Cynthia smirked before slithering off towards the landing platform.

* * *

It was later that same afternoon, and once again the various leaders of Equus and their advisors had gathered in the meeting hall.

"Hello everyone, and welcome back," Celestia said. "I hope you all have been enjoying your stay in Canterlot."

"Very much Princess," Serva said. "I forgot how lovely this city is."

"Yes, yes, quite lovely," Faris said, waving a hoof dismissively. "Now can we move on to the meeting?"

Celestia sighed. "Of course," She cleared her throat. "After everything that happened yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to have a... not a schedule per say, but a general idea of what we would talk about today."

There was a murmur of agreement from some of the rulers, as well as a few slow head nods.

"So today," Twilight began. "We thought we'd start with various encounters you've all had with Pokémon, then later move on to how Pokémon could be helpful, or hurtful, to Equus as a whole."

No one raised their voice to oppose the idea, so Twilight continued. "So... who wants to go first?"

"I'll go," Serva said happily.

The Deer Empress looked around the room and began. "As you can all imagine, and I'm certain most of you experienced, there was quite a large amount of uncertainty when the Pokémon first arrived." The others all nodded in agreement. "But," Serva continued. "It wasn't long before we realized the Pokémon were just as confused and scared as we were. From there, it was an easy decision to help the poor dears make sense of what had happened," Serva smiled. "It was on that first day that I met Gurkinn here," She giggled. "He had gathered up some of the younger Pokémon and was helping them find their families."

Gurkinn smiled.

"Anyway, after Lord Arceus made his announcement, we set about thinking of ways to help the Pokémon settle in,"

"Quick question," Shredder said. "How did you manage to communicate with them?"

Serva blinked once, then smiled. "Oh, we Deer are very good at understanding others," In a softer tone, she added. "It comes from the forest."

Shredder blinked in confusion, unsure of what to say to that.

"A few days later, after speaking with my royal advisors and Gurkinn, I made all the Pokémon within my countries boundaries citizens of Stagland, with all the rights and protections it entitles," She smiled. "There have been pleasantly few incidents, a few fires started by a confused Fire-type, but we put those out quick enough."

John frowned slightly as he remembered the many times he lit something on fire.

When Serva didn't continue, everyone looked at each other in confusion. "Is... is that it?" Carapace asked.

Serva tapped her chin. "I think so, we helped relocate some of the Pokémon to more suitable environments, talked to some of the more destructive ones, and have been working to reunite some separated families, but yeah, that's about it."

Several of the leaders smiled, while Golden Horn leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Very well then," Celestia said. "Who'd like to go next?"

Leaning forward, Princess Cadance raised her hoof. "I think I should go next." When no one spoke up against this, Cadance smiled and started. "When the Pokémon first showed up, it was a rather unfortunate event. A Feraligatr was provoked and went on a rampage. Luckily, Shining managed to hold her off long enough for John to show up and save the day. From there John introduced himself, and helped us deal with the whole situation."

Cadence bit her lip. "After that… Well other than a small altercation between some of the Nobles and John here, we didn't have any real Pokémon problem. That was… until King Sombra showed up, somehow still alive, while in the body of a Pokémon, going on a rampage. I regret to say that several ponies lost their lives to this attack."

Several of the leaders, including Luna, Twilight, and Oceania, gasped. The others wore looks of shock, or regret, Golden Horn snorted angrily. Most were too shocked to reply.

"It was then that John here almost lost his life, and received the large scar you all saw yesterday."

"At least those who lost their lives won't have died in vain." Shining Armor, who had stayed quiet for most of the explanation, spoke up.

"Yes Shining... may they rest in peace… But days after the attack, a debate went down to see if Pokémon should be allowed in the city. It was leaning towards kicking them out, before John stood up, still injured mind you, and persuaded them otherwise."

"While injured?" Victoria asked, impressed.

Cadance nodded at the Griffin Empress, as she just stared at the tall Infernape. Before continuing. "Yes. Now soon after that the Pokémon that accompany John started helping out around the Crystal empire. Eclipse, a Blastoise, started to train the Crystal Guards. Volt, a small Joltik, went around making everyone smile at his antics. Then we met Agatha, of the Elite four, and discovered that the Gengar that attacked days before was hers. From there, Yveltal showed up, to help deal with King Sombra..." Cadance trailed off as she started to think about what happened next… "Only for him to attack again… on the same day. As a Weavile, who, if John was not fast enough, would had killed me..."

"Who is this Yveltal, of whom you speak?" Chief Thunderhooves asked.

"_One of my Legendaries,"_ Arceus explained. _"He volunteered to help... take care, of King Sombra."_

The leaders were silent for a moment. "Sombra," Oceania said in a hushed tone. "He... he's really back?"

"Who's Sombra?" X asked.

"The evil _former_ King of the Crystal Empire, who enslaved the population and ruled with an iron hoof over all he saw." Luna explained.

"Oh..." X said.

"_Do not fear, he has been dealt with."_ Arceus reassured her. _"Now you were saying, Princess Cadance?"_

"John stopped him, while I was able to get away… Then they fought, and practically destroyed the throne room."

"In my defence," John cut in. "That was King Sombra."

"We still have to replace everything anyways." Shining pointed out. "But after that everything seemed to die down. The Weavile, unlike the Gengar, was able to stay awake after Sombra took her over, while Gengar lay in a coma."

"_Are they alright now?"_ Arceus asked worriedly.

"Sadly no…" John answered. "Gengar is still asleep, and Weavile is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, or at least that is what the doctors are saying."

Arceus hummed to himself for a moment. _"I can at least awaken the Gengar, though most beings don't like it when I warp their minds to deal with psychological problems."_

"Seeing as King Sombra used Gengar to kill, I don't think he would have a problem with it." John crossed his arms and shivered. "When King Sombra controls the body of a Pokémon the victim experiences extreme pain, and psychological trauma. Because of this I know Weavile would beg you to get rid of her memories of the incident, but we can worry about this after the meeting is over. For now, Cadance, do you wish to keep going?"

"_...Very well, but after this is over I will be going to their aid."_ Arceus once again wished he had taken care of Sombra himself, it would have been nice to let his full power loose again.

"Right… well… after that things went quiet before King Sombra then attacked the train we were riding in, and derailed it into the hillside. From there he, John, and Yveltal fought for almost an hour… Before King Sombra died in a ball shadows and flame…"

"I hope it hurt…" Shining Armor muttered under his breath as he remembered holding Cadance as the train crashed into it's side.

"Yes, we all do," King Faris replied. "But even after all that you still want the Pokémon to stay?"

"Yes. Because it wasn't Pokémon that attacked. It was King Sombra using them, and if it weren't for Pokémon, then I wouldn't be alive." Cadence said, glaring at the Saddle Arabian.

"But if it weren't for the Pokémon's arrival, then Sombra likely wouldn't have been able to attack, and your little ponies would still be alive," Golden Horn said.

Before Cadence could respond, the Minotaur stood up to address the leaders. "The Minoan Empire has always been a strong country, at least ever since I took the throne, but these Pokémon," He shook his head. "They overpower us in every way."

"They are stronger than even my most powerful soldier, and they have magic that, other than you, your highnesses, is more powerful than anything I've seen."

"_It's not magic, strictly speaking, in the way you view it, the Pokémon have natural energy within their bodies that allows them to use their attacks, and their abilities to function."_ Arceus explained. When everyone either looked at him with confusion, anger, or, in the case of one studious Alicorn and a naturally curious Deer, excitement, he asked. _"What?"_

"As I was saying," Golden Horn began again. "They are a danger to our people and our homes."

"I have a specialized portion of the military that consists of Pokémon," Victoria interrupted. "They handle the exact kind of thing you're worried about."

"Me too," Trotankhamun said. "They've been helpful so far."

The Minotaur snorted. "I do not want to replace my loyal soldiers with new creatures just because an egotistical _God_ didn't think out his plan."

The room was silent for a moment. _"Oh, was that directed at me?"_ Arceus asked absentmindedly. _"I was making sure you hadn't done something rash to my Pokémon in your anger."_

Golden Horn slammed his fist on the table. "_Lord Arceus,_" He said with contempt. "I cannot fault you for what you did, but you could have gone to another planet, you could have left us in peace, why didn't you?"

Arceus tilted his head. _"Truthfully? I felt something special from this world, I have seen many worlds in my day, countless planets across countless dimensions. And yet none have ever resonated with me the way Equus does, it just feels... right."_ As Arceus said the last word, his voice extruding finality, the Minotaur King frowned.

"You didn't even think to ask did you?" Faris chimed in. "You didn't even consider how we would feel about you deciding to change our way of life did you?"

Arceus sighed. _"I did not think my plan through, and in the state I was in at the time? No, I did not."_

Golden Horn pounded the table again. "Then why do you stay!?" He shouted. "You admit the trouble you caused, that you could have planned better, yet you stay. WHY?!"

"For one thing," X said. "We don't want to leave."

"Indeed," Sev said with a nod. "I happen to quite like it here."

"And some of us don't want them to leave either," Carapace said.

"Explain Carapace!" Golden Horn growled.

"It is true that the arrival of the Pokémon has caused some disruption. My garden being one of the casualties."

"My condolences, Carapace," Celestia said.

Carapace continued, ignoring the chip on his shoulder for now. "That being said, several of the Pokémon I have met have simply wanted to live in peace with us. Many wish to live with us, or fight with us. X's brother of sorts was the one who helped save my garden. "

"Remember that Bug problem I mentioned yesterday?" X spoke. "It was a whole colony of Durant. They set up shop just outside of the town I wound up in. They were being unreasonable. We managed to get them to back off and leave the city alone. That hammer of mine isn't just for show."

"X here was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, actually. I have never seen someone fight so fiercely for something so completely foreign to him."

"Thanks!"

"And before I forget, X and his Pokémon family are primarily construction workers. I have seen what he as worked on. The culture and techniques of his kind is something that can enrich us all, if we let it."

"Have any of you considered that you're giving him exactly what he wants?!" Faris snapped. The Saddle Arabians placed a lot of values in maintaining their culture, and he didn't like the idea of being forced to change it.

"Father please," Amira said. "Calm yourself."

"King Faris is right!" Golden Horn shouted.

"No he's not!" Victoria shouted back. "King Faris needs to accept that times are changing, and you need to accept that, even if the Pokémon are stronger than you, they're not going to take over the world!"

Golden Horn snorted again. "The strong rule the weak," He said with surety, he had learned this lesson the hard way.

"If that were true in this case," Serva said. "Would Arceus not have taken over the world already? He claims to be able to erase beings from existence and, were he to do so with each of us, he would have no one to oppose him."

Everyone fell silent. _"Hm, you know, I never considered that."_ Arceus meant nothing with that statement, he just made an observation. But, as was more or less normal for him, he did not think it out. At all.

The next moment, Golden Horn and Faris were screaming at Arceus and the others. While Victoria, Trotankhamun, Carapace and a few others screamed back at them.

Some, like Serva, remained silent, and most of the Pokémon present either defended themselves or stayed quiet. Arceus was still trying to piece together what had just happened.

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was already feeling stressed out and now everyone was shouting, her teeth gritted, face muscles strained, and ears flat against her head. She shouted back.**"QUIET!"**

The room shook slightly and the arguing died down. "I cannot believe all of you," She began. "You are the leaders of Equus, stop acting like this."

Trotankhamun shrunk slightly in his seat and Victoria twiddled her claws. Golden Horn huffed and sat down. Arceus looked around the room, still confused.

"And you," Celestia said to the Alpha Pokémon. "That was by far, the single most idiotic thing you could have possibly said."

"_What?"_ He asked. _"It's not like I would actually do that."_

"But you _could_, and that's what scares people." Luna explained.

"_I see,"_ Arceus said. _"Sorry about that everyone."_

No one replied.

Celestia sighed again. "Does anyone else have any experiences they want to share?"

Trotankhamun eagerly held up his hoof. "Ooh, ooh, pick me."

Celestia shook her head and chuckled. "Yes Trotankhamun? You have something to add."

Trotankhamun cleared his throat. "Yes I do." He was closed his eyes and sighed. "My nation, the nation of Zebrica, is under pressure. Everywhere I look there is an enemy waiting to stab me in the back, shoot me in the head, or slit my throat for some arcane magic. My people, who I have tried my best to lead, hate me." He looked away.

"I see it in their eyes," Trotankhamun said. "I was viewed as unfit to rule, and that I could not lead a country. Then when the Pokémon first appeared, you know what the first thing I did? I charged an angry Rhyhorn with nothing but a sword." He smashed a hoof to his face. "A damned sword. The thing could have killed me. Expect... I survived thanks to the efforts of a lone Lucario, doing what he does best. Smashing things."

"What I wouldn't give for such a simplistic outlook," Sev said.

"You have a simplistic outlook," Trotankhamun snapped. Sev scoffed but said nothing more. The young king sighed. "Honestly, if it hadn't been for Sev here and the PLA, I'd be dead. My people would be tortured and fed to the buzzards. We couldn't stand up to the Hyena Dogs, or the Thirst, but they can. They keep us safe. They helped me lead my people."

He chuckled. "Still doesn't quell the rebels though. Seems like my nation is still revving to revolt."

"They won't dare," Sev snarled. "My soldiers gave their lives to protect them. To protect all of you. Know this, nations of the world. The history of these days will be written in blood…"

"Sev!" Trotankhamun smacked him upside the head. "No epic war speeches."

"Fine!" Sev hissed. "When your nation needs a motivational speech...snake, don't come crawling to me."

"Why do you have to interrupt me all the dang time," Trotankhamun snapped. "You're embarrassing me."

"None can be embarrassed when I, the great and powerful Commander Sev, is speaking."

Trotankhamun facehooved. "Okay, long story short. Pokémon good. Country in danger. Pokémon stop it. Just shut up and accept them. DONE!"

"That was a terrible speech," Sev said. "I could have made one ten times as great."

"I'm pretty sure anything you come up with is just something you read on a fortune cookie." John retorted.

"I have no idea what that is," Sev scoffed. "Stop making stuff up, human."

"The fact that I'm friends with this guy baffles me…" Trotankhamun muttered.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really get what you are saying… are you friends with Pokémon or not?" Twilight asked.

"I vote for letting Pokémon stay and being at peace with them…" Trotankhamun answered, figuring that this was the easiest way to get his point across..

"I can't believe you are all alright with letting them say here!" Golden Horn ground. "Can't you see they are dangerous and need to be removed from Equus?!"

"What I do not understand is why you refuse to see them as anything other than a threat?!" Thunderhooves yelled. "Have you even tried to make peace with them, or even TALK to them?"

"I do not need you to criticize me, _Chief_! You openly accepted them without thinking of what they could do! What if one of them attacks you? What then?" Golden Horn yelled.

"What then is irrelevant! You're trying to run them off of Equus just because you think the _might _become a threat! Have you even given them a chance to prove otherwise? Despite the rocky start, my people have given them a chance, and I am HAPPY to say that they have proven themselves as wonderful companions and friends to my people!" Thunderhooves yelled back.

"ARE THE TWO OF YOU GOING TO KEEP SCREAMING, OR IS PRINCESS CELESTIA GOING TO HAVE TO BLOW OUT OUR EAR DRUMS AGAIN?!" John yelled at the top of his lungs. "Seriously! I thought listening to Sev go on about humans was bad! But that's not even half as bad as listening to you, Golden Horn!"

"Yeah," Sev said….."Wait a moment! How dare you compare me to that bovine!"

"Shut up," Trotankhamun said earnestly. "Shut up!"

"NEVER!" Sev shouted.

"Food Fight!" Volt screamed. All eyes turned to a near by wall as the small yellow bug then threw some popcorn at the back of Arceus' head.

All arguments grounded to a halt as everyone stared blankly at the small Pokémon, some of them wondering how he got in, others wondering where the popcorn came from, and a certain three resisting the urge to facepalm at the little Pokémon's antics

Except for one. "HA! I could do it better than that." Sev declared. "Trotankhamun, get me some popcorn."

"I don't have popcorn," Trotankhamun deadpanned. But then smiled as some popcorn hit Sev right between the eyes.

"GAH!" Sev shouted. "You know, this means war."

"No it doesn't," Trotankhamun rubbed his forehead. "What I wouldn't give to trade shoes with someone else right now."

"You and your shoes are of little consequence!" Sev uttered. "This meeting is about me….and other people not as important as me."

Celestia took a deep breath, she had literally no idea what was happening anymore. Then a piece of popcorn bounced off her muzzle.

She smiled softly and said. "You know what? I think that's enough for now," She got up and made her way towards the door. "Everyone, go out, have some lunch, clear your heads, hopefully we'll actually be able to get something done when we reconvene."

"Operation Popcorn-Headshot was a success!" Volt stated, as another popcorn smacked Sev in the head.

"YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY, BUG!" Sev shouted. "RUE IT!"

"And if you do anything to him, you'll know first hand as to how I killed King Sombra." John yelled back at him. As annoying as Volt was, he liked the kid, and he was practically a member of his family.

"Moon cannon," Sev smirked. "When I build it, none can stop me."

Celestia let out a long sigh… but smiled. _It could be worse, after all._ She told herself.

"So, where are we going for lunch?" Trotankhamun asked, catching up with Celestia. "You don't mind if I tag along right? Sev is a great friend when it comes down to it, but…yeah, he's nuts."

Celestia smiled and wrapped a wing around the young king. "I don't mind one bit."


	46. Chapter 43

Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she hopped down the halls of Canterlot castle. "Uh... Pinkie?" Zap asked from his place atop her head. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to give this," She pulled a pie tin with an oddly rainbow colored pie in it from here mane. "To Mewtwo."

"Seriously, where do you keep those thing... wait Mewtwo!?"

"Yep," Pinkie said. "He wasn't at my party, so I couldn't give it to him then, so I'm gonna give it to him now."

"This... this seems like a bad idea," Zap commented. "What if he doesn't want to be bothered? Or what if he's busy? Or-"

"Aw don't be such a worry wort Zap," Pinkie said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll be happy to see me again!"

* * *

Mewtwo took a deep breath and crossed his legs. He had spent the majority of the past few weeks, and his stay in Canterlot, either meditating, or sequestered in the library.

"_I don't even know why Lord Arceus assigned me this position,"_ He thought. _"The Princess has handled things quite well without my help."_

Truthfully, Mewtwo hadn't done much since his first few days, aside from scare the living daylights out of the castle staff when he teleported into the kitchen to get something to eat.

"_At least it has been peaceful,"_ Mewtwo was used to being alone, aside from Mew and Genesect, he didn't interact with the Legendaries that much back on Earth.

Just as Mewtwo was beginning to relax, there was a knock at the door. "Mewtwo?" Mewtwo groaned, he had not expected the pink pony to return. "Open uuup. I have a pie for you." The Genetic Pokémon did his best to drown her out, instead focusing on his own thoughts.

After a moment, the knocking stopped. _"Good, perhaps she's learned how to take a hint."_

"You know-"

"_Gah!"_ Mewtwo jumped upwards and grabbed whoever had snuck up behind him in a Psychic grip. Turning around, her came face to face with a still smiling Pinkie Pie.

"-I think the last person who said that to me was Dashie's friend Gilda," She continued uninterrupted. "Well, ex-friend I guess. Here's how it happened, it was a sunny day in the town of Ponyville and Rainbow Dash was-oof!"

Mewtwo dropped the little pony. _"How did you get in here? I was under the impression Earth Ponies couldn't teleport."_

Pinkie giggled and replied. "Of course we can't silly... well, most of us, I just came in through the window."

Mewtwo blinked in confusion. _"This room has no windows."_

Pinkie looked around in surprise. "Huh, would ya look at that."

Mewtwo pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. _"What do you want?"_ He chose to ignore the fact that she had somehow entered the room without using the door. _"I thought I made it clear that I was not interested in you throwing me a party."_

"I know," Pinkie said sadly. "But I have something for you!"

Before Mewtwo could respond, Pinkie reached into her mane and, after what sounded like she had sorted through a storage locker, pulled out a shaking Rotom. "Nope, that's just Zap." She put him back on her head and continued to hunt through her mane.

"_How... what does she keep in there?"_ Mewtwo asked.

"I don't know!" Zap shouted. "From what I've seen it just sort of... appears."

"Found it!" Pinkie pulled the rainbow pie out of her mane. "It's a Zap Apple apple pie," She said, holding it out for the Legendary.

Mewtwo noted that, somehow or other, the pie was still hot.

"You said you liked apple pie," Pinkie said. "So Granny Smith helped me bake you my first 'Welcome to Equus Zap Apple apple pie'."

Mewtwo blinked in confusion, then took the pie in a Psychic grip. _"I... thank you,"_ Mewtwo said with a small smile.

Pinkie smiled back. "You said you didn't want a party, so I had to think of a different way to say welcome," Her smile widened. "And a Zap Apple apple pie is as special as they come! Well... at least for pies," She giggled again. "Unless you count Pinkie Pies."

Mewtwo chuckled. _"You are quite... unique, Miss Pie."_

"Call me Pinkie," Pinkie said. "All my friends do."

Mewtwo stared at her in shock for a second, then smiled again. _"Very well... Pinkie,"_ Mewtwo said._"Would you like to... stay and chat for a bit?"_

Pinkie smiled. "Sure!"

* * *

Celestia was a rather observant sort of mare. At least, she believed herself to be nowadays. She had learned from her own past to pay attention to her loved ones and now...something was off with the little zebra king. He usually had a chipper little 'jump' in his step, or secretly gazing at every mare's flank when he thought she wasn't looking.

Celestia thought to herself.

But now, there was none of that. Even his little smile felt...forced. Celestia wanted to comment on that, but she needed to wait just a bit longer.

"So," Trotankhamun spoke up finally. "Where are we headed? Papa Noms?"

"No," Celestia said. "Just a little diner not far from here. I thought a little fresh air would do me some good."

Trotankhamun pouted. "Awww, but I wanted to go to Papa Noms?"

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Be a good little colt and I'll take you later."

"Fine," Trotankhamun relented. "I don't see why we didn't catch a bite at the cafeteria in the castle. They usually have good food."

"Because I want to get rid of this headache," Celestia gently rubbed one of her wings against her forehead. "Not make it bigger."

"Nobles?"

Celestia sighed. "Nobles. I swear, they get worse with each passing generation."

"Tell me about it," Trotankhamun grumbled.

Finally, the two of them reached a rather small cafe on the outskirts of Canterlot. There weren't a lot of ponies around and the atmosphere was rather peaceful and calm. It fit Celestia's needs perfectly.

"Celestia!" The owner of the cafe, a light blue batpony by the name of Radiant Garden, called out to them from the doorway. Her long, blonde mane was kept in a ponytail. The mare's cutie mark was a fountain with several bits of beautiful foliage surrounding it. "It's so delightful to see you again. You've got to come around here more often."

"Oh you know how it is, Radiant." Celestia chuckled as she gazed at her little friend. "Politics and whatnot."

"You poor thing," Radiant lamented. "Well worry not. All that's in the past. I'm going to make this afternoon the most relaxing one yet."

"That would be lovely," Celestia smiled. She had always made it her sworn duty to get to know her subjects and Radiant had to be one of her favorites. Partially because of her tea, which she found to be the most soothing concoction she had ever tasted. Radiant's company wasn't bad either.

The two rulers took a seat at one of the outdoor tables.

"I'll be right back with a couple cups of tea," Radiant said, before trotting inside.

"So," Celestia turned her attention to the young king. "What's troubling you?"

"Didn't I go over that already?" Trotankhamun huffed. "My country is in shambles...Kind of...Sort of...I don't know really now that Sev's in the mix."

"He is a an odd character," Celestia chuckled. "But compared to Discord, he seems harmless."

"I'm glad he doesn't have that guys power," Trotankhamun shivered. "No one knows what horrors he could unleash."

Unbeknownst to both of them, Sev did. He'd make it Taco Tuesday every day and ban Pizza...For the sole purpose that he thought that humans ran on pizza…..And the fact that he really loved tacos.

Trotankhamun felt a headache coming on and he didn't know why.

"But your problems don't really stem from Sev," Celestia frowned. "The Hyena Dogs. You say they've been acting up."

"Acting up?" Trotankhamun grumbled. "I've been practically at war with them."

Celestia found that the most troubling of the lot. She herself had dealt with the Hyena Dogs before and that wasn't an easy thing to do. They were rather hard to defeat, since they could just dig away when they lost or something. That and she remembered her own little misadventure against them...It's hard getting red out of a white coat. The punch stains were bad too.

"I mean, you try and educate a people and they label you a monster. It doesn't help my own nobility aren't helping matters with their 'anti-everything' attitudes." The young king snorted in anger.

"Your kingdom is still getting used to having open borders," Celestia pointed out. "They'll get used to it."

"But for how long must I wait?" Trotankhamun pleaded. "Everyday they hound me. Deride me. Make my life a living Tartarus just because I don't close our borders. Just because I want our nation to be a part of the rest of the world. Am I in the wrong? Am I unfit to lead?"

Celestia frowned. "You most definitely are fit to lead, Trotankhamun. Why, I would say you are by far the best king Zebrica has ever had."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Trotankhamun muttered, laying his head down on the table.

"Maybe," Celestia leaned her head forward to nuzzle him. "Or maybe I'm right."

Trotankhamun snorted, but said nothing.

Radiant Garden walked over to them. A tray with a couple of fresh cups of tea was balanced on top of her head. "There you go. On the house."

"Why thank you," Celestia levitated her cup to her lips. Tilting it, tea fit for the gods poured down her throat. Everything about it was bliss in liquid form. She made a mental note to bring Arceus here later.

That and she was going to give Radiant a hefty tip. Celestia would have to make it anonymous. Radiant was adamant about not charging her since they were good friends and all.

"Now," Celestia frowned. "You mentioned the Thirst. I was under the assumption they were extinct."

"Mostly," Trotankhamun said. "Apparently a Witch and some cronies survived. She's been a thorn in my side with how she keeps turning Pokémon into her puppets with those thrice damned collars of hers, but Sev's army has been able to handle her, and if nothing else, the Pokémon aren't hurt when you break the collars. Mentally scarred for life, but A Okay."

"We'll just leave that last part out if Arceus asks...for now at least," Celestia grimaced, knowing that they couldn't keep this hidden from Arceus for long. "He was already livid with Sombra. I don't think I want him sending 'Death' out again."

"They have a god of death?" Trotankhamun said in awe. "Why don't we have one?"

"We aren't making a god of death," Celestia said, while taking another sip of tea.

"But it'd be awesome," Trotankhamun pointed out. A wide smile split his face.

Celestia chuckled. It was good to see the little king happy again, if for a rather...strange reason. That was alright for her. He was always strange for a zebra. She still remembered how he liked to play in her mane as a little colt. His little giggles were just the sweetest thing.

Trotankhamun sighed. "How do you make ruling a country look so easy?"

"Years of practice," Celestia said, sipping her tea. "You're still young. You'll make mistakes for sure, but so does everyone else. Mistakes don't make you a bad ruler. It's what you do after a mistake that defines you."

"But what must I do?" Trotankhamun practically begged her. "Please, just a little bit of advice. Anything."

Celestia frowned and chewed her lips. She loved Trotankhamun like...well, like a son in a way, but she knew she couldn't solve all his problems. "I can't say exactly what you must do." Celestia put a feather to his heart. "Just follow this. It will guide you."

"So you want me to follow my heart?" Trotankhamun frowned. "This is starting to sound cheesy."

Celestia giggled and booped his nose with a hoof. "I can be cheesy if I want to be. I'm a princess after all."

"Well," Trotankhamun pushed her hoof away and smiled. "You don't act like it."

"I most certainly do, young stallion." Celestia raised her snout snootily into the air.

"Celestia," Radiant sat down beside them. "Who's this guy?"

"This is King Trotankhamun of Zebrica," Celestia said. "Did I mention he's single?"

"Celestia!" Trotankhamun shouted in indignation, before shooting Radiant a winning smile. "She's right..."

Radiant rolled her eyes. "Not interested. Already found myself someone."

"Is it the cute baker you told me about?" Celestia asked. When Radiant nodded, Celestia squealed and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy for you."

Normally, Celestia didn't act so...unprofessional, but honestly, it was nice to cut loose a little now and again.

"Eh," Trotankhamun shrugged. "Saw that coming and honestly. I can find my own marefriend."

"Really?" Celestia raised an eyebrow, releasing her friend from her chokehold. "At your age, you should have already settled down. I should be seeing little foals lay around my hooves, but no. I see none." She pouted.

"In due time," Trotankhamun said. "That isn't the pressing issue. I'm at war."

"And you said you had it handled, correct?" Celestia said.

"More or less," Trotankhamun relented. "I mean, other than the occasional attack, everything's been quiet…. Too quiet if you ask me. They're up to something."

"Everyone's always up to something," Celestia straightened up his slightly ruffled mane with her magic. "The trick is to be prepared for the unpreparable. That way, nothing will catch you off guard."

"So be paranoid?"

"No," Celestia shook her head. "Just expect the unexpected. That way, it won't catch you off guard that badly and you have enough time to react. And react you shall, my little king. I have full confidence in you. However, if you need my help, don't think twice. Just write me."

"I will," Trotankhamun nodded.

"And don't wait so long to come over and visit," Celestia nuzzled him.

"CELESTIA!" Sev appeared out of from behind Trotankhamun. Said king yelped in fright, jumping clean out of his seat and into Celestia's forelegs. "I'm glad I found you."

"What is it, Commander Sev?" Celestia asked. She had wanted some peace and quiet and now this.

"I've been thinking up ways to help win over the others," Sev said. "We build a sun cannon."

"Sun cannon?" Celestia asked.

"What about the moon cannon?" Trotankhamun said.

"I'm working with our god princess about that," Sev grinned. "I think I'm swaying her to my viewpoint. That doesn't matter right now though. I need a sun cannon."

"Why?" Celestia asked.

"Because nobody would be stupid enough to attack something on the sun," Sev pointed out. "The sun has a natural defense mechanism in that it's heat melts everything. It's the safest place."

"But wouldn't you burn up?" Celestia asked.

"None can burn the mighty Commander Sev," Sev shook his tail in defiance. "Not even the sun."

_I doubt that._

"So?" Sev asked. "Sun cannon?"

"No," Celestia glared at him.

Sev scoffed. "You lack vision, but no matter. My Co-Commander will agree with me." He slithered off. "CO-COMMANDER! I NEED YOU~"

"Who's this Co-Commander?" Celestia asked, setting Trotankhamun back onto the ground. "And why is is he so happy about seeing them?"

"Cynthia," Trotankhamun deadpanned with a facehoof. "Sev appointed her the same position as himself, well almost. And….I think he may have developed a thing for her."

"But Lightning Dust…" Celestia started.

"Two things," Trotankhamun grumbled. "One: Sev has got it into his head that he can have two mates no problems."

"Oh dear," Celestia said.

"Two: Cynthia was able to get him out of a rather...dark depression," Trotankhamun looked mortified. "I don't know how she could have. He was rather...violent in his sorrow. Nearly hit his sister...and that's what drove him off the deep end."

"And he's better now?" Celestia asked, feeling a tad concerned for the snake.

"The term 'better' is loose with Sev," Trotankhamun stated. "He's a good guy….But he's a wacko."

Celestia sipped her tea. "I know how you feel. Discord is a pain in the neck on a good day."

"I just hope it works out," Trotankhamun said. "I mean, Lightning's been...rather reluctant to admit her true feelings."

"I know that feeling," Radiant chirped.

"Oh no," Trotankhamun said. "Not like that. You see...Lightning doesn't exactly 'love' Sev. Oh she likes him a lot. No doubt about it, but….What the hay am I doing? Gossiping?"

"But it was getting juicy," Radiant Garden whined.

"But we were talking about my country and my leadership," Trotankhamun said.

"You're a good king and your country will survive," Celestia said. "So stop whining or you're going to be put in time out."

"I'm too old for time out," Trotankhamun crossed his forelegs and pouted. "I'm a big zebra."

"Big zebras don't pout," Celestia patted his head with a wing. "You'll get everyone through these dark times. That is a given fact." _And if someone hurts you...Well, Tartarus will seem like paradise when I'm through with them._

A little Kirlia, known as Lia, rushed up to them. "Have you seen my big brother?"

"He went after Cynthia," Trotankhamun said.

Lia groaned. "He's going to make a fool out of himself...again."

"Doesn't he always?" Trotankhamun said, though it was more of a statement than a question. He took a sip of his tea. "Wow. This is some really good tea."

"Thank you," Radiant beamed. "I made it myself."

"So," Lia spoke up. "None of you are worried she's going to hurt him?"

"No," everyone else said.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Lia asked. "I mean, no one's even talked to me since I've been here. None of the other dignitaries or anything." She pouted so adorably. "I want to be included."

"And you will be," Celestia said. "I'm sure the other dignitaries will love you." _Maybe Lia could be useful. She's a rather nice young lady. I'm sure she could help out._ "I'll introduce you to them later. Perhaps you can even help me with some duties later, if that isn't a bother." Her assistant Raven was certainly bogged down by recent events. _A little help would do her wonders._

"Okay," Lia said. She plopped herself down into a chair. She nervously looked back to where her brother went. "I just hope my big brother is okay." She suddenly balled up her fists and her eyes glowed with power. "Because if he's not, I'm going to rip someone's mind apart."

"Young lady," Celestia chided. "A woman does not rip someone's mind apart. They nag them into submission."

"True," Trotankhamun nodded and sipped from his tea. "Or use their feminine wiles. That's how Chrysalis always got me to do things for her."

"Who?" Lia asked.

"She's a changeling princess," Trotankhamun sighed in bliss. "The most beautiful creature the world has ever known."

Celestia sighed. The little zebra king had always been a bit smitten with the changeling princess, even as a child. "I'll see what I can do about letting you see her."

Trotankhamun hugged her. "Thank you."

Celestia smiled as she returned the hug. She was just glad to have a moment of peace for once.

"Oh and can I have another train?" Trotankhamun said. "My last one was kind of...blown up."

Celestia sighed. "I'll get right on it."

* * *

Canterlot Castle was known for a great many things, the foremost being the home to the Princesses. It was also known for having a great many rooms within it, no one really knew why the castle had so many rooms to being with, but they often came in handy.

For example, you could pick up your lunch in the cafeteria, walk for a little, and end up in a relatively small dining or tea room where it was much less noisy.

This was exactly what Gene and Belle had done for lunch. Taking a bite of her salad, Belle stole a glance at her mate. "You've been staring at me for the past ten minutes," She said with a smile. "If you want to talk about our bun in the oven, just ask."

Gene grinned. "I'm just... I'm just so happy," He reached across the table and took Belle's hand. "I never thought we'd be able to have a child together."

Belle smiled. "I never thought you'd end up as a Gallade," She chuckled. "And from there stems our current situation."

Gene smiled and kissed Belle's hands. "So... four months?" Gene asked.

Belle nodded. "Just about,"

The Gallade smiled at the thought. "We need to start thinking of names, and we can't keep living with Rarity if we're starting a family, and..." He brought his hand to his chin. "I'm going to need a job."

Belle smiled softly, stood up and walked over to Gene. "Let's not worry until after our wedding," Belle leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. "Then we'll figure out what we're going to do."

Gene smiled and pulled Belle closer to him. "Alright sweetie," He said. "I'm just nervous. Aside from battling I didn't do all that much back on Earth."

Belle smirked. "Well now," She said. "That's not entirely true."

Gene smiled and chuckled. "Oh really?"

Belle nodded. "Of course, you were quite a good cook as well."

The pair laughed, blissfully unaware of the two beings listening in on their conversation from the other side of the door.

"Naruto?"

"Yes X?"

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but I pretty sure I just heard that Belle is pregnant."

"I heard that, yes."

"And that Gene used to be human."

"From what I just heard? I think you're right."

"A Human she had a relationship with before we all got brought here."

"Indeed."

The two looked at each other for several tense moments before acting in a sane and rational manner.

* * *

Several guards from varying countries were just milling about when IT happened.

Two of the dignitaries from the Changeling Empire ran by screaming bloody murder.

"MY MIND! MY MIND IS BLEEDING ON THE INSIDE!"

"Why Arceus why? Why did you give me immunity to lobotomization! Something I so desperately need?!"

The confused guards watched blankly as the two ran passed them. An awkward moment passed, before they turned to each other.

"Did you see something?" one of them asked.

"Nnnope," the others deadpanned, and with a silent nod, they agreed to never speak of this again.

* * *

The two brothers in spirit entered the Changeling airship, and slammed the door. This attracted the looks of all present. Nell, a young Changeling mare that ShadowFox construction had befriended, looked up from her book and asked " Uh, X? Naruto? You look confused... and scared. What happened?"

"BELLE IS PREGNANT!" Naruto shouted. "AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!?"

"Its called Sex Naruto," Inti deadpanned, the Heliolisk wondering what the big fuss was about, especially since the Gardevoir and Gallade that they had passed by yesterday were CLEARLY mates.

"I KNOW THE HOW, I JUST DON'T KNOW THE WHY!"

An awkward silence descended on the room, before Azisa looked at some leftover food from last night's dinner, grabbed it, and promptly dumped it out the window. "Must have been expired," she muttered, shaking her head.

* * *

After lunch, the rulers of Equus and their advisors once again gathered in the meeting room.

Celestia appeared much more relaxed than she had when they had left to take a break, as did several of the others.

Carapace noticed that X seemed... unsettled though. He made a mental note to ask his advisor about that later.

"Welcome back everyone," Celestia greeted. "And sorry about my impromptu departure. I felt we all needed some time to cool our heads."

"Oh don't worry Princess," Serva said with a smile.

"I would like to know how that Bug got in here," Faris grumbled.

Cadence giggled. "That, King Faris, is one of the mysteries of Volt."

"Anyway," Celestia began. "Moving on, I'd like to discuss about the next issue to consider." She looked around the room. "By now, I have a pretty good idea of all your opinions on the Pokémon. Regardless of that, I'm certain there are ways that the Pokémon can be helpful to Equus."

Arceus perked up at this. _"Actually, I know-"_

"I believe it would be best if everyone tells us a bit of how they can see the Pokémon as helpful," Celestia cut him off. "After all, you all know better how the Pokémon can be helpful or harmful to your countries."

"Well," Cadence began. "I know I said it yesterday, but I feel the need to say it again, a lot of Pokémon have already created bonds of friendship," She smiled at John. "And not just of friendship, but of love too, with the citizens of Equus." She looked around the room and continued. "They're no different from us really, they breath, they talk, they live, they love." She smiled. "I see no reason why they can't do that here."

"Plus, they're great fighters," Shining Armor added.

"He has a point there," Victoria said with a smirk. "I have a fair number of Pokémon who _volunteered _to join the imperial guard."

"And I think that I've made my point on the subject," Trotankhamun pointed to Sev. "Sev and his army have been helping to protect Zebrica from the Hyena Dogs, the Thirst, and some of the more violent isolationists," he sighed, shaking his head at the last part in particular. He REALLY wished his people weren't so...stubborn at times, especially when they had bigger things to worry about.

"Likewise, I believe I've also made my point on the subject as well," Carapace nodded. "I truly believe the Pokémon can really help us in improving our way of life, not only in helping to make daily life easier, but to also enrich our culture. In fact, X here has already suggested quite a few construction styles/techniques from their world that would complement what we already have very well."

"I agree with Carapace," Serva smiled, before adding, "In fact, I believe that the Pokémon may be extremely beneficial to Equus, especially in terms of medical knowledge," she smiled. At this, everyone turned to her, silently asking her to elaborate. "You see, after things settled down, we found out that some Pokémon aside from being beneficial in healing, also had medicinal value. For example, the Pokémon called Chansey and Blissey produced two different types of eggs. The second type, which wasn't used for breeding turned out to be highly nutritious, as well as having strong medicinal value. In fact, some of the fawns suffering from a common illness recovered almost immediately after eating the eggs."

King Halfpaw was the next to speak up. "One point I would like to make is that the Pokémon can prove quite helpful in several fields of work." Once everyone had turned to him, the Diamond Dog continued. "In Canida, we're already employing some Pokémon with the ability to dig in our mining, and our output has increased already." The King seemed to remember something and added. "Actually, we've been finding a lot of odd stones lately... the Pokémon called them Evolution Stones I believe?"

Arceus chuckled. _"Sorry about that,"_ He said. _"Those are from Earth. They're a necessary part of some species of Pokémons' biological growth so I brought them all with me."_ He thought for a second, then added. _"And... try not to break them, they can be quite volatile unless handled properly."_

Halfpaw nodded and continued. "And outside the mines, several fire Pokémon have willingly begun working in our forges, simply because they enjoy the heat," The King chuckled at the memory of one of their smelting pots full of Slugma. "And I'd assume Pokémon that naturally produce electricity would be of use, as well as at home, in power plants."

Luna's ears perked up. "He's not wrong sister, remember the lightning factory in Cloudsdale?"

Celestia nodded. "A group of Pokémon called Magnemite took up residence there recently, and from the reports since then they have actually been assisting the workers around the factory."

"Alright, to sum it up, while I disagree with how the Pokémon were suddenly dumped on our laps without so much as a warning," he leveled a small glare at Arceus, "I personally think that the Pokémon are, in the long run, an unexpected boon to Equus," he finished.

Celestia nodded. "Anything else anyone would like to add?"

"The Pokémon, some of them at least, seem to be naturally inclined to help others," Oceania said.

Golden Horn raised an eyebrow.

"Ever since they first arrived, Pokémon have protected my citizens, from other Pokémon, as well as natural predators such as sharks. It was shortly before things started to calm down. You see, some of my scouts had ventured out of the city to try and learn more about the Pokémon when they had first arrived. Along the way, they accidentally ran into a group of sharks, and would have likely lost their lives, had not a Pokémon, a Lapras, I believe, come to their aid, driving off the sharks."

Several of the leaders nodded in agreement, remembering various such incidents in their own countries. Golden Horn had his arms crossed and was looking away from the rest of the table.

Seeing this, Arceus decided to explain. _"Pokémon are as different from one another as any other sapient being is from the next,"_ He began. _"Some species can be a little more violent than others, but some are, as Queen Oceania so eloquently put it, naturally inclined to help those in need. Blissey, as an example, will seek out injured Pokémon, Ponies, Griffins, what have you, and nurse them back to health. Its one of the main reasons why they were often employed as nurses back on Earth."_

"I do not need Pokémon to do work that my people have done just fine for the past few centuries," King Faris chimed in. "Saddle Arabia is perfectly fine just the way it is."

Celestia sighed.

"Father?" Amira spoke up. "If I may say something, I believe you are mistaken," she sighed.

The Solar Princess hid her smile.

"Amira," Faris gasped in surprise.

"Father," Amira continued, not letting him interrupt her. "Even before the Pokémon arrived, the world was changing, and yet our country had remained the same for centuries where others had long since moved on. Saddle Arabia has had very little technological advancement, even in areas that would have been very helpful like medicine, or transportation. Even our airship was a gift from Equestria." Faris' eyes looked to the Princesses for a split second before returning to his daughter. "Saddle Arabia has had virtually no noticeable change in any significant area for over three hundred years. New rulers take the throne, a Noble house or two fight amongst each other for power, but nothing changes." The young Princess was now almost glaring at the elder King. "A country cannot survive in a state of complete stagnation father. It is not healthy for our people to go on believing our _old_ ways are the only way."

"If I may add something here," Chief Thunderhooves chimed in. "For a long time, my people too clung to tradition, we had our stampeding ground, and we had little reason to interact with the other nations of the world, so we did not." The Buffalo Chief smiled softly. "This led to an unfortunate occurrence with Equestrian settlers, due to a lack of communication," He looked to the Princesses. "On all parts involved. But we adapted," He continued. "We found that we had much to gain from the Equestrians, and we taught them much as well." He turned back to the rest of the leaders. "In the end, did things change? Yes. But was this change a bad thing?... No, no I don't believe it was."

He grinned. "And now, we have been presented with another opportunity for change," He chuckled. "Quite possibly the greatest change any of us have ever faced and I, for one, am more than willing to see what we can learn from it, and in turn, what we can teach them."

Twilight had to resist the urge to clap.

Faris chuckled lightly. "Quite well put Chief," And that was all he said.

Luna noticed that Golden Horn was leaning back in his seat. "Emperor Golden Horn," She began. "You have yet to say anything this meeting, what, pray tell, do you have to say?"

The Minotaur sighed and let his chair fall back onto all four legs with a solid clunk. "When the Pokémon first arrived, Minos went into a panic, and the entire country into an uproar after your announcement," He pointed at Arceus. "We had to try and deal with creatures we had no idea how to fight against, and had to do so in ways that we hoped would not invoke the wrath of a being more powerful than the Lord of Chaos."

Somewhere in the castle, Discord sneezed. "Wonder who's talking about me THIS time," he muttered.

"We had limited ways to communicate with them, as not many Ponies have residence in my country, and even fewer of them Unicorns." He glared at Arceus. "And almost none of the Pokémon who could translate psychically that we encountered stayed with us for long."

"_Pokémon have just as much free will as you do, if they don't want to do something, they don't have to."_ He returned Golden Horn's glare. _"And I'm certain they had their reasons."_

Golden Horn snorted. "If you assume that we harmed your Pokémon, you are mistaken," He said, crossing his arms. "We did not want to risk what would happen if other Pokémon tried to retaliate... or if you showed up." The Minotaur sighed again. "And yet, your Pokémon _still_ attacked our cities, my citizens." He slammed a fist on the table and glared at Arceus. "Why?"

Arceus sighed. _"As I said, some Pokémon ARE inclined to react violently to anything they perceive as a threat, and some just react violently."_ His gaze sharpened on Golden Horn. _"And did you perhaps think that, in their fear, your citizens might have caused some of the attacks, only to cover the fact up when questioned?"_

Golden Horn shook his head, he had considered that, but his country needed him to protect them, and he wasn't going to let a smidgen of doubt stop him from doing just that. "Regardless of whether the attacks were provoked or not," Golden Horn said. "The Pokémon still attacked, and in many cases, even my imperial guard were no match for them."

"Then do what I did," Victoria said with a shrug. "Find a Pokémon to train your guards to defend themselves and others _from_ Pokémon," She pointed to Shredder. "While looking for Pokémon who will willingly join your army."

"_And a word of advice,"_ Arceus added. _"If it looks like it could eat you or crush you, it's best to approach the Pokémon carefully."_

Golden Horn chose to ignore the Alpha Pokémon and turned to Victoria. "How is it that you trust the Pokémon so easily?"

Victoria shrugged again. "It's not hard, all you really have to do is give them a chance."

Golden Horn snorted. "The Minotaurs do not need help defending themselves," He said. "Our army is strong enough without their help."

"Emperor Golden Horn," Twilight spoke up. "So far all you've told us is that you stopped Pokémon from attacking, but at any point did you actually try to make peace with the Pokémon?"

"I was more concerned with protecting my people most of the time," He grumbled.

"But... you could have at least tried," Twilight said. "It's not that hard, you just have to stop fighting."

Golden Horn snorted. "You have much to learn Princess Twilight."

Celestia glared at the Minotaur and was about to speak up when she was interrupted.

"COWARD!" Sev shouted. "That is what you are. A coward. Protecting your people? Is that what you think you're doing? You insipid, selfish, prude. Do you know what we've been through? What we've fought for and for how long? What we've lost? No. You just care about your own _strength_. I have led mon with ten times the courage you possess. I have ordered them to their deaths because they believed in our freedom….." Sev looked away. "They believed in me." He then glared back at Golden. "I will not have their blood shed for nothing. I WILL NOT LET MY FRIENDS' SACRIFICES GO UNREWARDED! If you want us gone, Golden Horn, you will have to make us. But be warned, the Pokémon Liberation Army will make it hell for you."

The other occupants of the room stared, eyes wide and mouths agape, at Sev. Trotankhamun had started banging his head against the table in exasperation.

Golden Horn glared at Sev, one hand on the hilt of his battle ax. Celestia noticed this and silently readied a spell in case he attacked.

Other occupants of the room did the same, readying weapons or spells wherever capable.

Just when a fight between the two seemed to be inevitable, Golden Horn stood up, slamming his hands on the table. "This meeting is over," He said before stomping out of the room.

"_Well, that was... I have no idea what that was,"_ Arceus shook his head and chuckled. _"Wonderful speech Commander."_

"I would only hope it would be deemed wonderful in your ears, my lord." Sev spoke with a saddened tone he rarely used. "Each and everyone one of my dead soldiers had your name on their lips as they passed...Especially Zard, bless his soul. Couldn't go an hour without praying to you. Wish he didn't listen to that order..." He straightened up. "But that is in the past. We must look to the future...That is where victory lies and I assure you all. I, the great and powerful Commander Sev, will ensure a better tomorrow."

Arceus nodded, a glint of sadness in his eyes. _"I don't believe we can continue without Emperor Golden Horn present can we?"_ Arceus asked hopefully.

Celestia shook her head.

Arceus sighed. _"In that case, I believe I shall be off."_ Instead of vanishing, Arceus trotted towards the door. _"Perhaps I'll explore Canterlot for a bit, I hear the city is quite beautiful."_

* * *

Not long after the meeting ended, Celestia called Luna, Twilight, and Cadence to her chambers to discuss a private matter.

"I'm not sure if these meetings are going good, or bad, or what," Twilight said. "I mean, we're definitely making progress, and most of the other rulers are on our side, but Emperor Golden Horn is _really_ stubborn."

"Perhaps after today he will realize his mistakes," Luna commented. "The speech from Chief Thunderhooves, as well as Commander Sev may have had some effect on him."

"I certainly hope so," Celestia said with a sigh.

"Aunty?" Cadence asked. "What happens once the meetings end?"

"We will all cast our votes on the matters in question, and international laws will be passed, changed, etcetera, based on majority rule."

"Well that's good," Twilight said. "At the very least we know that King Faris and Emperor Golden Horn will be legally obligated not to do anything stupid."

"True," Celestia said. "But I would prefer they not have to live in forced peace, I doubt many would be happy with that."

"Look on the bright side sister," Luna said. "Faris will likely step down from the throne soon enough, or else he will wait till he passes to abdicate it. Either way, Amira will take the throne soon enough."

"And as for Golden Horn," Cadence began. "I... I actually have no idea, but if he does do anything to harm the Pokémon or something like that," She shuddered. "Arceus will handle it."

Celestia frowned. There had to be some way to get through to the Minotaur, some way to convince him to try for peace...or at the very least that the Pokémon are NOT going to take over the world. She sighed. "I pray it doesn't come to that Cadence." Celestia looked out over the city from her balcony. "I really, really do."


	47. Chapter 44

Though the days during the international meeting may be busy, the nights are calm and relaxing. Ponies, griffins, Changelings and Pokémon all slept soundly. Though they may be different, they all needed to relax. They all needed sleep. But there was one that was not getting the relaxing sleep he needed.

As the night dragged on, John tossed and turned in his bed for a nightmare plagued his mind. A nightmare of King Sombra, and of the battle they had…

"Get… out…" John muttered under his shallow breath. "Get… Out!" Grabbing his head, John started to cry. "I said…. Get out!" As the nightmare grew, his face contorted in a look of pain, and he became more and more restless.

John's flame started to grow as the nightmare dragged on. "I said, get out of me!" The fire, normally at least reasonably cool and controlled, began to grow bigger and brighter. The more restless John became, the more out of control the fire became. And as it grew, the flame would get hotter and hotter.

Now John's room was enchanted to be fireproof, but an enchantment can only take so much. As John's flame grew to the size of a large bonfire, the bed in which he lay in caught fire. The fire quickly engulfed John, and spread throughout the room. Lighting all the furnishings on fire as well.

"AAAAAHHHH!" John screamed, before his room exploded with fire.

A lone Batpony guard was finishing up his rounds, looking forward to getting home and spending some time with his family, when a door at the end of the hallway literally exploded outwards. Flames danced out of the room, setting fire on whatever they can get ahold of. The explosion rocking the castle.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"By Luna! What was that?"

The Bat Pony ran off, hoping to find someone who could help with the fire. Preferably a Unicorn, or a Hippocampi.

The explosion, as well as the guards screaming, awoke the other occupants of castle. Running out of her room, Holly Heart looked down the hall to see John's door on fire, as well as parts of the hall way. "John!" She yelled out in worry. She lit up her horn and, as a White aura surrounded her, before she raced into the room.

Before anyone else could respond, or try to get Holly or John out of the room, there was a flash of light and Discord appeared, wearing a firefighter costume over his guard armor and holding a fire hose.

"Fire in the hole!" He shouted as he turned the hose on. It proceeded to suck the fire into itself, as well as the charred remains of the doors lying on the ground.

Those in the vicinity who were not staring at the black charred door frame of John's room, were staring at Discord. "I suppose I should tell Candy her monkey exploded," Discord mused to himself before vanishing again.

A few brave souls walked up to the burnt remains of the room, the wall that had supported the door was black and charred, As was the rest of the room, two walls were still fully intact, if badly burnt, but the one where the window was had been melted or burned away, as had anything resembling furniture, and a good portion of the ceiling.

It was miracle nothing had fallen through the hole in the ceiling, though that might have been because the bed in the room above had been incinerated as well, and that the floor was still mostly intact aside from a small burnt crater where the bed had been. In the crater Holly Heart sat next to John, neither of them appeared burnt, but the Infernape was quiet, his knees pulled to his chest.

"What happened?" One of the Zebra guards asked.

Holly didn't take her eyes off of John for a second. "Sombra," She said in a tone just above a whisper. "Even from his grave, that monster is still causing trouble..."

* * *

Princess Cadence didn't make eye contact with any of the other rulers in the meeting hall. She sat silently in her seat, awaiting the arrival of Lord Arceus and Emperor Golden Horn.

While she knew where the first was, she didn't know what was taking the Minotaur leader.

In a flash of gold, Arceus and Uxie appeared in the hall. _"Greetings all,"_ He said calmly. _"Princess Cadence, I would like you to know that John is currently resting comfortably in the infirmary."_

"_I did what I could to help with the trauma,"_ Uxie said. _"But my sisters, Mesprit and Azelf are better when it comes to... well, the kind of thing he went through."_

Cadence just nodded, she was glad John was alright… but...

It was then that the doors to the hall opened and Emperor Golden Horn walked in. "Hello everyone," He said, a look of confidence on his face.

"I'm glad you decided to show up, Emperor," Luna said. "Now, if we may begin,"

"Actually Princess, I'd like to bring something to everyone's attention," Golden Horn interrupted. "Is everyone aware of the explosion that rocked the castle in the early hours of the morning?" He asked.

"We are," Celestia said. "And I can assure you, the issue is being dealt with."

"I'm sure it is Princess," Golden Horn replied. "But I would like to point out that the event in question resulted in what was basically the incineration of a room here in Canterlot Castle," He smirked. "As well as a fair portion of the floor of the room above it."

Celestia glared at the Minotaur. "Don't worry, the room was unoccupied, no one was injured, and the damages can be fixed," Celestia turned back to the rest of the leaders. "Now then-"

"Please Princess," Golden Horn cut her off. "I wasn't done. Now, as I was saying, the incident was caused by a Pokémon," He looked to Princess Cadence. "The advisor from the Crystal Empire, John, to be exact. Now I don't know the full details just yet, but this raises several points that I'd like to touch on during this meeting. The first and foremost being the dangers that the Pokémon present to the citizens of Equus."

Cadence pounded her front hooves on the table. This was the LAST thing she wanted to deal with right now. "Stop, just stop!" She shouted. "Everyone already knows that John was the one who caused the explosion, and, unlike _you_, they know _why_ it happened!"

Golden Horn reeled back slightly, he had heard that Princess Cadence was a rather soft spoken and gentle individual. Seeing her angry like this...was a real surprise.

"The accident was caused because John had a nightmare regarding King Sombra," She glared at the Minotaur. "The same King Sombra he killed, the same King Sombra who tried to take control of his body! The same King Sombra who tried to make him kill Shining Armor, myself, and the one he loves! And unless you think _you_ could go through that without having some type of trauma afterwards, then stop bad mouthing my friend and let us move on to the actual meeting!"

Cadence was panting with anger as she finished, she noticed that several of the leaders were staring at her. Recomposing herself, she sat back down beside her husband and said. "Sorry..."

"No need to apologize," Luna assured her. "You were simply informing Emperor Golden Horn of the facts he wasn't already aware of."

Golden Horn, now leaning back in his chair, shook his head, not making eye contact with the other rulers.

"Now then," Celestia said. "If I may continue," She looked around the room to make sure no one else was going to interrupt her. "After yesterdays meeting, we thought it would be a good idea to discuss how we can... adapt, to the Pokémon being in our world, as well as go over the ground rules regarding them."

"First of all, Arceus," Celestia started.

"_Yes?"_ Arceus nodded.

"I think to start with, it would be a good idea for us to know EVERY Pokémon that are known to be more...temperamental and/or hazardous, so we can tell which Pokémon to either avoid...or prepare to subdue," she sighed at the last part.

Arceus sighed. _"Very well Princess,"_ He turned to the rest of the leaders. _"Before I say anything, I'd like you all to understand, while some Pokémon do have more violent tendencies than others, they are in no way monsters, and not all will act in the same manner."_

There were a few nods from the council, and Golden Horn scoffed and rolled his eyes. _"I'm not joking,"_ Arceus said sternly. _"I do not want these Pokémon harmed simply because of how they might act or what they might do. If they do attack, then by all means, defend yourselves, and if needs be, subdue them. But do NOT attack them simply because of what MIGHT happen."_

"We understand Arceus," Oceania said.

Arceus glared at Golden Horn. _"I hope you do."_ With a heavy sigh, Arceus reviewed the long list of Pokémon for a moment, and spoke. _"First and foremost are Pokémon like Gyarados and Hydreigon, ones who are inclined to act violently even when very little provoked them."_ He gauged the leaders reactions before continuing. _"Other Pokémon are dangerous because they're protecting something, Pokémon such as Feraligatr, Salamence and Aggron are very territorial, while others, such as Volcarona and Kangaskhan can be deadly if you harm their children... although, that last one is really true for most Pokémon."_

"And any parent worthy of the title," Serva added.

Arceus chuckled. _"True I suppose. Hmm, what else... ah, Pokémon like Cofagrigus, Spiritomb, and Malamar are dangerous for varying reasons, the first two, being Ghost types, are exceptionally difficult to deal with, and have some... disturbing tendencies, while Malamar have a bad habit of hypnotising other beings for a various range of reasons."_

Carapace nodded. "Any other notable examples?"

Arceus thought for another moment. _"Ships and swimmers should be wary of Jellicent, but otherwise it's just a general warning not to provoke them."_

"And any that are simply hazardous?" Celestia asked.

Arceus closed his eyes and nodded his head. _"Poison types like Muk, Weezing and Garbodor are the big names, though the latter is actually quite environmentally conscious. But besides that it gets into which Pokémon have abilities that are more dangerous than others and if I went into that we would be here quite some time."_

Celestia nodded. "Thank you, Arceus. Now then, yesterday we talked of how the Pokémon could be helpful to Equus as a whole, today I'd like to begin with how we can integrate the Pokémon into Equusian society."

Arceus smiled at this. The humans may have had their faults, but they had a pretty good system for that kind of thing. Now if only they had treated the Pokémon as equals more often...

"Well, the Water Pokémon seem to be taking to Marelantis very well," Stated Oceania. "And a fair amount have taken up at least partial residence within the city limits."

"_Yes well,"_ Arceus began. _"Unless I'm mistaken, isn't your city a living coral reef?"_

Oceania smiled softly. "True, true."

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"Well, it was already mentioned but certain Pokémon can be quite helpful in various fields of work,"_ Arceus reminded the leaders.

"Indeed," Halfpaw said with a nod. "We already have Pokémon helping us mine, as well as some working in our forges."

"It may well be a good idea to look into finding ways to integrate Pokémon into the workforce," Luna commented.

"A good idea Luna," Celestia said. "Though we may have to look into some kind of... registration for that to work."

"We have something like that in the Crystal Empire," Cadence said. "It hasn't been... easy, but I'm hoping it will pay off in the long run."

"Of course, that brings the issue of the sheer number of Pokémon in Equus," Victoria said, turning to Arceus. "Which is..."

"_... Oh, I don't have an exact number, though it's a very large percentage of the population of Earth... which was counting in the billions I think."_

Several of the leaders gasped. "Billions?!" Twilight asked.

"_With all the separate species of Pokémon, plus all the humans, what did you expect?"_

"How... what about overcrowding?" Celestia asked.

Arceus shrugged. _"It doesn't seem to be a problem,"_ His eyes glowed golden for a moment, then he added. _"Maybe because this planet is has more land than Earth, and it seems to be a small bit larger as well."_

"But what about food reserves?" King Faris inquired. "Or-"

He was cut off as a large pile of fruit cascaded from the ceiling, covering the table and spilling off the sides.

"Do you have to make a mess, Arceus?" Golden Horn snorted.

"_These, are berries,"_ Arceus said, ignoring the Minotaur. _"They were the main agricultural product back on Earth outranking even apples and other such fruit."_ He picked up an Oran Berry and twirled it around in the air. _"In addition to taking less than a week for the plants to bear fruit, all throughout the year, might I add, they each have some special effect that makes them beneficial to eat, whether they cure poisoning, or restore energy."_ Arceus looked down at the pile and sighed. _"And there are a lot more where these came from."_

Before anyone could ask about the berries, they were interrupted by a soft crunching sound. Turning, they saw that Empress Serva had apparently decided to make a snack of the suddenly arrived meal.

"Sweet," She mumbled through a mouthful of Oran Berries. "And juicy."

"Try the Sitrus Berries." X joked. "They're better, and healthier for you as well."

Arceus chuckled and shook his head, he knew the berries weren't dangerous to any race of Equus, but he had expected someone to ask first.

"Why do you have all of these?" Carapace asked, picking up a Pecha Berry in his magic.

"_Well, unlike most races of Equus, humans wear clothes almost constantly, and they usually have some basic supplies on them as well, at least Trainers and such,"_ He nodded to the berries again. _"This is the part of the collective amount of all berries that humans were carrying when I moved them here."_

"Well, Arceus, I don't suppose... Trotankhamun, manners," Celestia scolded motherly as the young king stuffed his face with the tasty fruit.

"Sowwy," He said through a mouthful of berries.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "I don't suppose you've been holding anything else like this have you?"

"_Hmm,"_ A golden slit appeared in front of Arceus and he leaned his head inside. _"Let's see, Sea Temple, Snowpoint Temple, shrine to Celebi, Ultimate Weapon I'll be melting that later, painting, Capture Styler... Oh!"_

In another cascade, a large amount of cookies and candy fell onto the pile. _"Not exactly natural, but Poffins and Pokéblock are both made from berries."_

Celestia tentatively picked up one of the Poffins and took a small bite. "Yum," She said with a smile.

"Didn't John say something about these, a while back?" Cadence asked Shining, as she took a bite out of a large Poffin.

Arceus chuckled. _"We can discuss the berries at a later date,"_ In a delicious vortex, most of the berries, Poffins, and Pokéblock vanished back to whence they came, save for a few bowls now resting in the center of the table.

"_Now, where were we?"_ Arceus asked.

"We were discussing Pokémon registration," Victoria reminded him.

"Before you made a point to show off everything you stole from Earth," Golden Horn added.

"Its not exactly stealing if he owns it, right?" X mused. "I mean, the berries are berries, and I don't think many of us who moved here mind that we lost a few berries, since they were pretty much everywhere. In my case, Azisa is a Trevenant whom can grow berries in her, so I never really noticed a lack of berries anyway, since I never really carried them on me."

"But the other stuff sounded like it belonged to Arceus. Except the Ultimate Weapon thingy. Didn't that thing belong to that crazy Team Flare guy?"

Arceus hmph'd. _"As far as I'm concerned, anything that can be used to drain the life force of ten of thousands of Pokémon in a matter of hours belongs to no mortal. In fact, I don't know why I haven't destroyed it by now."_ And with that, his eyes glowed brightly as the Ultimate Weapon promptly imploded in its pocket dimension. _"Done."_

The room fell silent as everyone processed that. "That was a," Twilight gulped. "A Weapon of Mass Destruction."

Such objects had been theorized and written about, but unless myths about long forgotten artifacts were true, none had ever been created.

"_Right you are Princess,"_ Arceus said solemnly. _"Though now it is naught but dust."_

"Good," Commander Sev hissed. "That abomination never should have existed in the first place. It just goes to show how far those insipid humans would go to destroy us…." He chewed his lip. "Almost reminds me of my own device though, but it just turned things pink….I had to blow it up to keep it out of human hands. I mean, could you imagine if we were all pink? The horror!"

Everyone listening sweat dropped at his words, but ultimately decided to ignore him.

Arceus shook his head. _"Anyway, back on topic, I doubt that it would be realistically possible to somehow register every Pokémon on Equus,"_ He sighed. _"Especially after how they've lived for since my banishment."_

"Well... perhaps there is a middle ground," Celestia said. "We could simply register any Pokémon who wish to live in or near populated areas. It would certainly come in handy in case they look for work."

"_Hmm, tis a good plan, though I worry how my Pokémon will deal with living amongst other beings as equals."_

"It is never too late to teach others, if you are willing to be patient," Chief Thunderhooves said.

"I agree with the Chief," Trotankhamun said. "I've been trying to teach the Hyena Dogs, despite the heavy resistance from a lot of them, but I still think, no, I _know_ it's worth the effort to at least try."

Celestia smiled, she was very proud that Trotankhamun was willing going to such lengths to help others.

"This would also give us a good basis to find former humans," Luna added. "Who, in their new forms, would not only be able to help teach ponies about Pokémon, but help Pokémon adjust to a more... civilized life style."

Celestia nodded again, that would be helpful, though they might have to organize some kind of program or school if it was to work on any kind of large scale.

At that moment, the door to the meeting room squeaked open. All eyes turned to see John standing in the doorway. His eyes roaming between each of them. "Sorry about being late. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"John, what are you doing out of bed?" Cadence asked, jumping to her hooves.

"Doing my Job, Cadence. When have I ever sat back and let things unfold when I am suppose to be apart of them?"

"But John, you shouldn't be up. You need to go back to bed and lie down."

John let out a long sigh. "Cadance, you asked me to be your advisor. So I am obligated to help. I know it would be best to go lie down, but I feel fine, and I would… I would… are those Oran berries?"

Cadence glanced at the table, then to John. "Yes, they are. But, don't change the subject! You destroyed a part of the castle! You're not fine John!"

"Cadence, if I go back to the medical wing, Mesprit and Azelf will try to make me go to sleep. If I go to sleep, I risk blowing everything up. I would rather be awake, and fully aware of what I am doing." With that John walked past her, and took his seat next to Shining Armor.

"Don't you risk blowing all of us up?!" Golden Horn growled.

"_Where did that Infernape go?"_ A feminine voice called out as a blue Pokémon much like Uxie flew past the open door, only to slowly drift back into the room a moment later. _"There you are, you sneaky ape! Now hold still, I am going to… going to… oh, um, hello, Dad._

"_Hello Azelf. How are you doing today?"_

"_I've been trying to find him for the last ten minutes!"_ She pointed at John. _"I had to fly all over this castle just to track him down!"_ John just smiled as he threw an Oran berry into his mouth. _"Stop smiling! You're in no condition to be running around! Now come back with me, and we'll get your brain sorted out. I think I can get Mewtwo to help a bit!"_

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand?" Golden Horn asked, gritting his teeth. "Starting with removing John from the room? He destroyed part of the castle, I don't want that to happen to all of us."

"_If anything were to happen like last night again, I will deal with it myself,"_ Arceus stated, stomping his hoof on the ground.

Golden Horn snorted. "We'll see."

Celestia sighed. "In any matter, I'm glad you could make it John," She smiled. "We just went over various ways to integrate the Pokémon into society."

"We used your registration idea," Cadence said. "Or at least the basics of it."

"Really?" John asked. "You'll have to catch me up later."

Cadence nodded.

"Now, moving onto the next issue," Celestia unrolled a long scroll. "Laws pertaining to the Pokémon."

There were several groans from around the table. While it was necessary, drafting laws was one of the least enjoyable parts of ruling a country. This was something that the youngest leader at the table, Princess Twilight Sparkle, had not yet figured out.

"Well," Halfpaw began. "Laws pertaining to the protection of sapient beings will have to be expanded to include the Pokémon."

The Princess nodded.

"What were the laws about Pokémon back on Earth?" Victoria asked.

The Pokémon present all looked at each other, before turning to Arceus. _"Let's see,"_ In a flash of gold, a thick tome appeared in the air before the Alpha Pokémon. _"Limit to how many Pokémon one can carry on a team or own, Pokémon abuse laws, Pokémon rights... hmm, rather lacking, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... hmph,"_ Arceus shut the book and it vanished. _"Well, any abuse and rights laws would be improved upon by treating them as you would each other, the laws pertaining to battling and training would be better discussed at a different time and... really, going off the laws of Equus would be for the best,"_ He thought for a moment, then added. _"I believe I said that already actually, during my speech to the world on the second day."_

"About that," Shining began. "Could you not do that again? I'm pretty sure you caused panic all over the world."

"_If I have a good reason, I will make an announcement again, but I will not just do it because I get bored, or to make a point."_

Shining Armor sighed at his answer, but nodded all the same. After all, he figured that was probably the best they would get.

"So we're at least agreed there," Celestia said. "And of course it'll work both ways, Equusians can't attack the Pokémon without real reason, and vice versa."

Everyone nodded in agreement, as that sounded reasonable enough, though Golden Horn still rolled his eyes.

"There should also be a few protective laws regarding certain Pokémon," Serva said. "As things like rain could actually be dangerous to the wrong type of Pokémon, and nature doesn't seem to work in the same way here as it did back on Earth."

Halfpaw winced, remembering a few incidents with Steel and Fire types in the forges, nothing fatal, but a few came close.

Celestia jotted some notes down on the scroll. "Alright, what else?"

"Typism?" X suggested.

"I'm sorry but what do typewriters have to do with Pokémon?" Luna asked.

"It's like racism, but instead of hating someone based on their ethnicity, you hate them based on their typing," X explained. "Dark-types like Naruto have bad reputations because of their Type, not their personalities. Sometimes it is deserved, but most of the time it isn't."

"Oh, Mage mentioned something like that a few times," Twilight said aloud. "She's a Mismagius. She said Ghost and Dark-types got the worst rep just because of what they were."

X nodded. "That sounds accurate. Azisa is a Trevenant, a Grass/Ghost-type, and they have a reputation of being notorious stalkers of the highest caliber, even if she isn't anything like that. Back home there weren't any real laws preventing Typism if it ever escalated above simple hate."

"Oh, it escalated all right," Carapace moaned. "My garden was caught in the crossfire of a Typist's temper tantrum. Honestly, no matter how many times I hear it, I STILL can't believe that Blastoise went ballistic just because of Naruto's Type. Heck, if what he says is true, then that thing kept on spouting nonsense that anyone with even an ounce of logic could tell was wrong...provided they understood how things on Earth worked," he ranted in annoyance.

That only made the leaders present curious as to what exactly occurred that day.

"All I'm saying is that if our exodus here to Equus is a fresh start, it should be for everyone. No cut corners. We construction workers have a saying; A house built without a sturdy foundation is sure to crumble. If we're gonna do this...we gotta do it right."

Celestia smiled. "We have laws against racial prejudice in place, and will expand them to include the Pokémon."

"The Pokémon Liberation Army had no issues with this," Sev hissed. "We are all equals….Except for I, Commander Sev, the greatest of us all."

"Shove it Sev," John said. "None of us are in the mood to hear you right now."

"You dare tell me to shove it," Sev snarled, baring his fangs threateningly. "You humans have no manners. I shall teach you manners."

"Gentlemen please," Celestia said. "These are peace conferences, not battles."

"My apologies, Princes Celestia." John apologies.

"Wait," Sev held up a bladed tail. "They don't?"

Celestia was about to say something, when she noticed a small ball of yellow descending from the roof. It was the Joltik from the day before. Again, he was able to find his way into the room. He slowly moved down, on a string of web.

"Do-do-do-du-du, do-do-do-du-du, Do-do-do-du-du, Dun-na-NA-NA-NU-NA!" He hummed, before grabbing the bowl full of poffins and slow started to crawl his way up the string. Taking the bowl with him.

After a few moments of everyone staring, Celestia sighed. This was going to be a long meeting.

* * *

Celestia sighed and shook her head as she made her way back to her room.

After figuring out all those laws, the solar Princess was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed with Ninetales and a good book.

"Your majesty."

Apparently that would not be the case.

"Yes Aegislash?" Celestia asked, turning and meeting the swords stare.

The Ghost type put its cloth arm over its shield and spoke. "I regret to inform you, mistress, that I will be indisposed for the next day."

"Oh?" Celestia wasn't sure what to say to that, the mostly emotionless sword was nowhere near as close to her as Ninetales was, and she had never really considered that it might do its own thing.

"Yes, an old... friend," He pronounced the word as if it were foreign. "Has come and asked me to say goodbye, and asked for one day to do it." He shook his head, which consisted of him rotating his body. "I've chosen to indulge her, due to the time we spent together."

Celestia smiled. "Aegislash," She said. "You never have to ask me if you can take time off for a friend."

The sword Pokémon nodded. "I will make note of that in the future mistress." With that, Aegislash began to float away, heading to meet whoever his old friend was.

"What's her name by the way?" Celestia asked.

The sword Pokémon stopped. "Her name is Neige," He answered plainly before floating off.

* * *

The meeting did go for quite some time, but on the bright side, once they were finished, they didn't have to go back until tomorrow after the new laws were drafted.

This gave everyone the remainder of the day off, which they intended to use to the fullest. Some in more...confrontational ways than others.

"You sure they're here?" X asked as he and Naruto approached a small cafe on the outskirts of Canterlot. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw, to his surprise, another Zoroark sitting at a table on the other side of the cafe.

"Pretty sure," Naruto said. "I heard them asking Princess Twilight about a good place for a date, and she said that Princess Celestia and Luna recommended this place."

X peered over the gates and nodded. "Yep, they're there," He pushed the gate open and stepped into the outdoor cafe.

Sitting next to each other at one of the tables was a Gardevoir and a Gallade wearing a white hat over its spike. They appeared to be deep in conversation, and by the looks on their faces, were very excited about it.

X sighed, he didn't know what he expected to get from this, maybe he would end up helping these two but... he needed answers.

Walking up to the table while Naruto explained something to the owner, X cleared his throat.

Gene looked up at the Chesnaught, paused slightly when he saw it was wielding a hammer, then spoke. "Can I help you?"

"Sorry to interrupt," X said. "But I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

Gene raised an eyebrow and turned to Belle. She pouted slightly for a moment, then sighed. "Sure," She motioned to the seat across from them.

"Thanks," X sat down in the chair, and Naruto took the one next to him.

"I know you came with the Changelings," Gene said. "But I can't remember your names, sorry."

"I'm X, and this is Naruto." The Zoroark nodded at the couple.

Gene smiled. "Well, I'm Gene and this is Belle, which you may already know," He said with a smile. "What did you want to ask us about?"

X looked between the pair and sighed. "It's about... you two and your... relationship."

Gene grinned. "Belle and I couldn't be happier," He said. "In fact, we were just talking about our wedding which, if Pinkie Pie is telling the truth about, is tomorrow!"

"Why do you ask?" Belle inquired, smirking. "You have a special 'mon in your life?"

The look that crossed X's face was enough to tell the pair they had misunderstood. It was one of determination.

"Yeah, that's not what I meant," X said. "I just... I want to know why. Why would a Pokémon and a human fall in love with each other?"

"Why would a human and a human fall in love with each other?" Belle asked. "The will of the heart is a mysterious thing."

"But he's your trainer," Naruto pointed out. "He caught so he could start his journey."

"Belle's the first Pokémon I got," Gene defended. "And I asked her if she wanted to come with me."

"Best decision of my life," She said, looking back into her mate's eyes.

X sighed, he wasn't getting anywhere. "Look, the fact remains that the only reason you met is because you were looking for a Pokémon to catch for the purpose of training it." To X, having that kind of relationship with a Pokémon, especially one you trained, seemed... weird.

Gene closed his eyes. "I may have gone out looking for a Pokémon," He opened his eyes and stared right into X's. "But I came back with a soulmate."

X and Naruto didn't know what to say to that, it was just so... cheesy.

"Look," Belle said. "Gene never 'made a move' on me. He treated me like a friend the entire time we were together, and for the record, _I_ was the first one to make a move when it came down to it."

"But why would you pick a human over a Pokémon?" Naruto asked. "They're not even that attractive." He glanced at X. "No offense."

"I'm curious about that too," X said.

Gene and Belle stared at them in shock before answering.

"I'll have you know that Gene is the most caring, wonderful, loving mate any girl could ask for! And I find him very attractive, even when he was a human!"

"Belle is the most beautiful, most amazing, most caring girl I've ever met! And I use to hang out with Cynthia!"

X blinked once. "Oookay, but... why? Why did you two fall in love?"

Gene and Belle looked at each other. "I don't know," Gene said. "It certainly wasn't something I planned for."

"I never thought my best friend would become my mate," Belle added.

"But as we traveled... I don't know how to explain it," Gene continued.

"I was just drawn to him," Belle said. "I knew it was wrong but... I couldn't help it."

"You want to know why we fell in love X?" Gene asked. "I could give you a scientific explanation of us being alike, and spending all our time together, but I don't really know if I believe that."

Belle smiled at Gene. "In the end, I guess the heart wants what the heart wants."

"I don't understand," X said, shaking his head.

"What don't you understand?" Belle asked.

"All of it," He said. "Why do humans and Pokémon fall in love, even when it's forbidden and pointless?"

The pair looked at him in shock, before they glared at him. "Did you just come here to insult our relationship?" Belle asked, a dangerous edge in her voice.

"I'm just trying to understand," X said. "I mean... you had to hide from the law, and you couldn't even have kids. To me, that kind of relationship just seems... empty. I just can't understand why people still pursue such a thing."

Despite himself, Gene smiled and took Belle's hand in his. "Well..."

"Back on Earth," X quickly amended.

"Does it really matter anymore?" Belle asked. "We're both Pokémon now, and this world doesn't have anything stopping us from being together."

"Yes it matters," X said. "I mean, going back to my first point, he captured you, you were around him most of your life... how do you know if you really love him?"

The air around Belle seemed to darken as she glared at the Chesnaught. "I am so sick," Belle said. "Of people trying to convince me that my love isn't real. That everything I've felt for Gene is fake."

Gene put a hand in his fiance's shoulder and turned to X."Why do you care so much about Belle and I anyway?" Anger was rising in Gene's voice.

X sighed. "Because ...I feel like I don't belong here. Like I'm the stranger." He gestured to the couple across from him. "Take you and Belle. You two got to go this new world because you followed what you thought was right, and Arceus himself rewarded it. Despite the hate, despite the distrust... you still did it. And look at you... you're happy. You're going to have a family, _your_ family. You have everything now. You had lead, and then you it turned into gold."

X shook his head and continued. "Me? The bravest thing I ever did before arriving here was standing up to my parents about my career choice. The more time I spend here, the more I see these forbidden relationships appear everywhere. I see it, and it makes me question everything... and I don't know why."

X stood up and shook his head. "...Let's go Naruto."

The two got up, with X motioning to a waiter. "If you can, can you send the check to X, with the Changeling Emissaries? Its the least I can do."

The Chesnaught walked off, leaving Gene and Belle to think about what had just been said.

On the other side of the cafe, the Zoroark, who had been waiting for his date to arrive, had heard the entire thing. With a shocked and worried expression on his face, Nick got up and left the cafe.

"You know, I was expecting you to push the subject more than that," Naruto said as he and X walked away from the cafe.

"They're happy," X said. "I shouldn't try to make them explain why just because I feel... out of place."

Naruto put a paw on his on X's shoulder. "X," He began.

The Chesnaught stepped away from him. "I just think I need to be alone right now," He said, shaking his head. "Clear my thoughts and all that."

Naruto sighed as his brother in spirit walked off. He shook his head, he still didn't understand those two, especially Belle.

Looking back towards the cafe and saw the Zoroark from before walking in the opposite direction, his head drooped low as his claws dragged across the cobbled roads.

As Zoroark's are rarely seen, except for the pack that guards the entrance to the Pokémon Village, Naruto was intrigued. As the Zoroark rounded a corner, Naruto ran after him, chasing after the fleeting glance of red and black.

"Well, this is pleasant." Naruto whispered as he continued the chase, it had been a while since he had gotten a good run in.

The other Zoroark apparently heard him and turned around, visibly surprised. He immediately turned around and moved a bit quicker down the road.

Naruto smirked and picked his pace, the other Zoroark did the same, soon, both of them were sprinting down the streets of Canterlot, startling Ponies as they rushed past.

As Naruto rounded another corner, he stopped and looked around, trying to spot the other Zoroark.

"Using illusions on a fellow Zoroark? Really?" Taking a closer, more discerning look at his surroundings, Naruto noticed a curtain over a business stand that wasn't moving as much as it should have been whenever a breeze blew past, and had less of a shadow than it should have.

Walking up to the curtain, Naruto poked it, causing the entire thing to ripple and the other Zoroark to reappear.

"A curtain?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. "Honestly, it's not an ideal choice for an Illusion. Anything that moves more than a physical body is not easy to maintain its realism." Naruto lowered his voice a moment. "But that was a very good Illusion in and of itself. Next time try blending in as someone, rather than a something."

The other Zoroark didn't look reassured. "I just want to talk. A good friend of mine always puts the value of talking it out above other actions. At the very least, maybe an ear that is willing to listen is what you need. By the looks of it, you need it badly."

The other Zoroark opened and close his mouth a few times, trying to say something but gave in under Naruto's trusting gaze. _I wonder what's eating at him_, Naruto thought.

"So...let's start with names. I am Naruto of ShadowFox Construction. And you are?"

"Nick." He answered.

"Do you live here in Canterlot?"

"No, I'm from out of town, came along with...some folks I met."

"From out of town? So am I." Naruto motioned for Nick to follow, the former human doing so. "I take it you're with someone here for the Summit?"

"I'm mostly for moral support and because I wanted to see the city. I'm not actually in the Summit, though. Some friends of mine are."

"You're lucky that's all. My trainer X, though he's more of a brother actually, is the advisor for the Changeling Emperor Carapace."

"He's the Chesnaught from the cafe right? The one that was carrying that hammer?"

Naruto nodded. The pair continued to walk, "Yes. Trust me, he's rather stressed out with the political dancing that is going on behind those doors. Though you can bet he's not going to just sit there and wait for an answer."

"And what side is he for?"

"For staying. We like it here in this land. Though I am not here to talk about my problems." Naruto turned to face Nick, a warm look on his face. "We are here to talk about yours."

Nick said nothing, silence carrying the conversation as they walked.

"Naruto, have you ever had a girlf-I mean a mate?"

"Girlfriend?" Naruto asked. "It sounds like you were raised by a trainer."

"You could say that," Nick said with a frown.

"...I'm listening."

"It's just that, well, me and a friend, a long time friend actually, we just started seeing each other. She says she has feelings for me, but how do I know its true, that I didn't just... trick her to fall for me."

"What, did some Pokémon tell you its wrong to fall for her?"

Nick looked away in shame.

"...Is it because you're a Dark Type?" A cold tone reflected the icy hate in Naruto's eyes at the dang Typists out there. "Trust me, I ran into a typist my first day here. The best way to shut them up is to punch them in the face."

"No no, nothing like that-"

"Then you have nothing to worry about." The friendly words warmed his tone back to normal. "I mean, its not like you were her trainer that raised her for years right?"

Nick's head abruptly turned to the sky, watching a few of the weather ponies going about the business of cloud maneuvering. "Yeah, it's not like I was her trainer." He continued to watch the ponies work. "I never noticed how the Pegasi here make such beautiful shapes." Nick said wistfully.

Naruto looked up to see whatever Nick is looking at. "That just looks like two clouds push together to make a bigger cloud."

"Anyway," Naruto looked down back towards Nick. "You should be fine. I may not know much about relationships, but what I do know is that if you don't talk about how you really feel, then the answers you receive are not worth the trouble. A little courage goes a long way."

Nick said nothing.

Naruto simply raised a claw and poked Nick through the chest. The illusion dissipated into the air.

Nick however was nowhere to be seen.

"Clever. He had me there for a minute." A smirk appeared. "_Almost_ had me."

* * *

Gene and Belle walked down the streets of Canterlot, Gene still trying to cheer up his mate. "Come on love," He said. "Just forget about it."

"I want to," Belle sighed. "But... why do people have to keep bringing it up?"

Gene pulled the Gardevoir into a hug and said. "I don't know, but I'm just going to put it out of my mind from now on." He leaned back and smiled at Belle. "We're getting married, tomorrow!" He grabbed Belle and spun her around. "And you, my dear," He poked her belly. "Are pregnant, soon, we'll have a little Ralts of our very own."

Belle smiled. "You're probably right... how are you taking all of this so well anyway?"

Gene shrugged. "Hey everything I ever wanted is happening right now, I have my family and most of my friends together for my wedding with the girl I love, who's pregnant with my child," He chuckled. "The only other thing I could ask for is if Shauntal, Abby, and Kasai were here..." He thought for a second, then added. "And that Pinkie had given us a little more warning about the wedding date."

Belle had to agree there, Pinkie had informed them the night before that Celestia was letting them use the castle grand hall for their wedding. She and Rarity were back in Ponyville getting their tuxedo and dress, and the cake. And it would have been nice if their other friends could have come.

"How do you think the others will react when we give them the news?" Belle asked with a smile.

"Cynthia, Iris, and Juniper will probably be happy for us, and of course the rest of the team will be ecstatic," He thought for a moment as they continued back towards the castle. "Twilight'll probably have a ton of questions, and Pinkie will shout something about planning a baby shower before running off."

Belle laughed. "That sounds about right." The two continued on their way back to the castle.

As they passed a park, Belle noticed that the grass seemed torn up, and she noticed a few ponies fleeing in terror.

"Gene?" She asked. "What's going-?"

"Come on Arrow! Fight me like a man!"

Gene and Belle watched as X was thrown out from a grouping of trees, landing on the ground in front of them on his feet, his hammer drawn and in a battle position.

"What the heck?!" Gene cried.

X looked back at the two in surprise. "Uhh... you two should really go." X still hadn't worked through his feelings from earlier, and now.

"Come on Arrow," Gene and Belle looked to see a Nidoking emerging from the grove. "I just want a fair match is all."

"In what way is this a fair match?" X asked. "And besides that, my mother was the one who beat you!"

"Who's this guy?" Gene asked.

"The name's Mason!" The Nidoking roared. "His mother humiliated me, and now he's refusing to give me a rematch!"

"I thought you were a construction worker," Belle said.

"I am," X said. "But my mom and dad are both famous trainers."

Belle sighed. "You know what? I'm really not in the mood for this."

"Don't get involved," X said. "If you give these guys what they want, then they win."

"That's just coward talk," Mason spat back, still advancing on them.

Belle glared at the Nidoking. "Look, you were human, and I've always been a Pokémon, that means I have better use of my powers than you," She shook her head. "So just go away and I won't have to-"

"Poison Jab!" Belle's eyes widened as the Nidoking rushed forward and hit her with a purple arm.

"Belle!" Gene ran forward and kneeled next to his mate. "Are you alright? Where did he hit you?"

Belle pushed herself up and shook her head. "I'm... I'm okay, I don't think the poison took."

X, meanwhile, was now glaring at Mason. "What the hell was that!?" He screamed.

"I took out one of your Pokémon," Mason said with a grin. "Now fight me or-"

"She wasn't even attacking!" X shouted.

"And she's not of his Pokémon!" Gene said with a growl. "She's. My. Mate!"

"And this little grudge match is between you and me! I'm not much of a battler but you forced my hand! You want it? Well, then. COME GET IT!"

Mason grinned. "Finally, Rock Smash!"

Mason raised his arms and brought them down, aiming for X's head.

"Spiky Shield! " X raised his arms and a spiked shield formed on his forearms just as the Nidoking hit him.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Mason jumped backwards, shaking his arms. "Cheap move you little-"

"Leaf Blade!"

X watched as and green blur shot past him and sliced Mason across the chest. "Gahh!"

Gene smirked as the Nidoking flailed back, an x shaped scratch mark across his chest. "That's for attacking Belle! You ass!"

"I thought I told you to stay out of this," X said.

Gene leveled a glare at X. "Why don't you watch your partner/best friend/mate/fiance/mother of your child get attacked and then wait on the sidelines?"

X had to admit, he made a good point.

"Hey!" Mason shouted. "Two against one is not a fair fight!"

"And you attacked a bystander," X said. "You don't get the luxury of a fair fight."

Mason looked from the pissed off Chesnaught wielding a hammer, to the pissed of Gallade with it's arm blades in striking position. Then he saw the Gardevoir approach and smirked.

Roaring, he charged Belle, prepared to hit her with another Poison Jab. He stopped as a wall of tan overtook his view.

Mason slumped to the ground after running right into X's Hammer Arm, strengthened by the fact he had actually hit him with his hammer. "Ow."

"Do yourself a favor," X said. "Stay down."

Not heeding X's warning, Mason stood back up and glared at the Pokémon. "No way," Mason said. "You're mother beat me once and humiliated me, I don't care if I have to fight your entire team! I will-"

"Psycho Cut!"

"Psychic!"

"Hammer Arm!"

Mason was launched backwards through the air by the simultaneou attacks. The now unconscious Nidoking landed a few yards away.

Belle smirked and walked over to him, picking him up in a psychic grasp. "Can I throw him off the mountain?"

X was about to speak up and tell her that, no, she couldn't toss him off Canterlot, when a voice from behind him interrupted him.

"As tempting as that sounds, I don't think that's what Tia had in mind when she asked me to look after the city."

X turned around and his eyes widened as he saw what looked like either someone had sewn together a dozen different parts of different creatures, or a Ditto that couldn't pick a form, standing right behind him.

"Gah!" The Chesnaught jumped back a bit to get away from the creature. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"I'm Discord, Lord of Chaos," He vanished and reappeared sitting on top of Mason. "And why do you Pokémon always freak out when you see me? You're a diverse bunch to begin with."

"Yeah, but most Pokémon are at least somewhat symmetrical," Gene deadpanned.

"Fair enough," Discord said with a shrug. "Anywho, I'll take this trouble maker off your hands, promised Tia I'd look after the city while she was in meetings. Toodles."

In another flash, Discord disappeared, along with Mason.

X, ignoring what had just happened, turned to Gene and Belle. "I told you two not to get involved."

"And we didn't," Gene said. "Until he punched Belle, then we did." He grabbed Belle and pulled her into a hug. "No one hurts my fairy princess and gets away with it."

"Gene," Belle sighed, half from the cuddling, half from the nickname. "I'm fine, I've been through worse than that."

"I know," Gene said, hilding Belle tighter. "But you're pregnant, if anything happened to you, or the egg... I don't think I could live with myself."

X cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still there.

"Oh right," Belle said.

X sighed. "I... I'm sorry about pestering you two earlier," He said. "I mean, I'm still not a fan of the idea of... this kind of relationship, but I get that's it's your choice."

Gene smiled softly. "Thank you."

X nodded once, then turned away from them. "Well, see ya."

Gene bit his lip as he watched the Chesnaught walk off. "X, wait," He called. "Would you like to... I don't know, talk or something? Just get to know each other better."

The Chesnaught looked back at him in confusion.

"It might help with... whatever it is you're feeling," Gene said. "At the very least, it never hurt to talk to new people."

X smiled. "Sure," He said.

* * *

Rarity hummed to herself as she covered the clothing rack with a tarp. "And perfect," She said with a smile. "Now I've just got to get these back to Canterlot by tomorrow and voila, perfect wedding." The day before Rarity decided to head back to Ponyville so that Belle's and Gene's Wedding Dress and Suit was finished, since the wedding was only one day away.

Rarity clapped her hooves. "Oh, I do hope they like them."

Carrying the rack downstairs, Rarity paused to look at the clock. "Hm, I still have some time before I have to meet Pinkie and the others back at the train station." Rarity smiled, she hadn't had much time to herself lately. "Perhaps I can-"

*Knock, knock, knock*

Rarity's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Oh well," She said with a sigh, trotting towards the door. "A dressmaker's work is never done."

Rarity opened the door and began her usual speech. "Hello~ And welcome to Carousel Boutique, home to the chic, unique, and magnific."

"_Hello miss Rarity,"_ A deep voice and familiar rumbled.

"_Hi~"_ A much softer one greeted.

Rarity took a deep breath and looked at the two beings who had come to the door.

The first was Arceus, the second was. "Oh my word!" Rarity cried. "You are positively resplendent!"

Diancie blushed pink and giggled. _"Thank you,"_ She said. _"Oh! I'm Diancie by the way, Lady of gems and stones."_

"Well, you certainly look the part," Rarity said. "You're hair is positively amazing! I've never seen gems shine like that before!" She leaned in and asked. "Tell me, what type of shampoo do you use?"

Diancie giggled again. _"Oh, it's completely natural,"_ Diancie explained. _"Though I do polish it every morning, a girl has to look her best right?"_

Rarity nodded and was about to reply, when Arceus interrupted. _"As much as I would like for this to be a social call,"_ The god said. _"That's not exactly the case."_

Diancie nodded. _"Would you mind if we come in for a bit?"_

"Not at all," Rarity said, though she was uncertain if Arceus would fit through the door.

Stepping out of the doorway, Rarity let Diancie float into her house, and watched as the doorframe and walls acted like jello and let Arceus pass through.

"_Beautiful house,"_ Arceus said, taking in the room.

"Thank you Lord Arceus," Rarity said. "I do my best to keep it in tip top shape."

"_Please, just call me Arceus,"_ The Alpha Pokémon said.

"Right," Rarity said. "Might I ask what this impromptu meeting is about?'

"_Well,"_ Diancie began. _"I was hoping to give you something to help with your friends wedding."_

"Oh?" Rarity asked.

Diancie nodded. _"Uh huh, I asked dad about it,"_ She nudged Arceus. _"And he gave me something that I'm sure they'll love."_

Diancie opened her hands and showed Rarity a pair of rings, one had a grey DNA helix on it, set across a rainbow background, while the other contained an crystal grey stone, with a green and red helix in it.

"... What are these?" Rarity asked, picking them up in her magic.

"_The what isn't that important right now, what IS important, is that these belong to Gene and Belle."_Diancie explained.

"Really?" Rarity was still looking over the stones.

"_Yeah, the green and red one is Belle's, the other is Gene's,"_ Diancie smiled. _"We didn't even have to reset Belle's stone, it was already a ring back on Earth."_

"Aww," Rarity cooed. "I suppose these are meant to be their wedding rings?"

"_Uh huh, there's more of a sentimental value to these."_

Rarity smiled. "Well then, that's one less thing to worry about." She slid the rings into her saddle bag. "Though I'm still curious as to what they are exactly."

"_I'm sure all will be revealed in due time,"_ Arceus said with a grin. _"But for now... Diancie? Could you give me and Miss Rarity a moment alone?"_

Diancie raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. _"Sure thing dad,"_ She said. _"I'll see you back at the Temple."_

Diancie let herself out, leaving Arceus alone with Rarity. "Sooo..." Rarity said, suddenly feeling slightly nervous. "What did you want to speak with me about?"

Arceus sighed. _"I would like to thank you for all the help you've given to Gene and Belle, and my Pokémon in general."_

Rarity blinked twice, then smiled. "It was no trouble, I'm always willing to help those in need." _And perhaps get my business out to some of the dignitaries while I'm at it._

Arceus chuckled. _"I suppose, but I would still like to... reimburse you, for your work."_

Rarity was about to protest, but in a flash of gold, Arceus disappeared and in his place, a burlap sack fell to the ground with a thud and a clink.

Rarity sighed. "I wonder what this could be?" She trotted over to the bag and opened it. "If it's a bag of bits I'll have to-" Her eyes widened as she processed the fact that the bag was filled to the brim with small golden spheres. "But I... this is... he just..."

The rest of Rarity's thoughts, garbled and unintelligible though they were, were cut off as her brain stopped working and went for its old fail safe.

Rarity passed out on the floor of her boutique, next to a bag full of Nuggets.

* * *

Twilight landed not far from her library still going over her mental check list. "Alright, step one, get dress for wedding, step two, get Juniper and Spike to the train station, step three- Oof!"

Twilight stopped as she bumped into Spike, who was standing outside the library with his arms crossed. "Twilight!" He shouted. "I'm glad you're here, see, I was dusting off the astronomy section when-"

"Not now Spike, there are more important things than cleaning the library right now."

Spike stared at the Alicorn in shock. "Twilight? Did one of the Changelings replace you?"

Twilight glared at her assistant. "Not funny Spike, and I'm talking about Gene and Belle's wedding, I'm here to pick up my dress, and you should get your suit."

"Ohh," Spike said, for a moment, he was distracted enough that Twilight almost managed to get into the library. "Wait!" He shouted, barring the door with his body. "You can't go in there!"

"Why not?" Twilight asked.

"Well," Spike said. "We have a little problem."

"Spike, what did you do?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't do anything!" He defended. "They just showed up earlier while Juniper was out!"

"They?" Twilight asked.

Spike nodded.

"Are _they_ Pokémon you got scared of?" Twilight asked.

"One of them," Spike answered.

Twilight sighed. "Spike, I'm sure that if we just talk to these guys," She used her magic to ply Spike's claws off of the doorframe, and pushed the door open. "Then we'll figure out... what... they... want..."

Twilight stared, eyes wide, at the sight within the library, the books were flying around in a tornado, and at the center was a Mismagius. This one was less tattered looking than Mage, with no fray/spikes on its hat, the brim of the hat was pushed up, and it was wearing a pair of glasses.

Next to the Mismagius, a creature that made Twilight's blood turn to ice sat. A blue and gold creature with shadow like arms streaming from its body.

The Cofagrigus turned to look at Twilight, it's red eyes staring into hers. Twilight tried to run, but her legs had locked in place. The Cofagrigus nudged the Mismagius and whispered something to her.

The Mismagius turned and, upon seeing Twilight, gasped. "Oh my gosh," She said in a soft, apologetic tone. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone else was going to be here."

Twilight watched as the books reshelved themselves, properly, from the looks of it.

"I just... I wanted to learn a little about this place, and what better way to learn than by reading right?" The Ghost type chuckled nervously. "Um... I'm Shauntal by the way."

Twilight couldn't help but notice how different this Mismagius was from Mage, she seemed kind of shy, and less out there than Mage was. "Wait," Twilight said, shaking her head. "Did you say Shauntal?"

The Mismagius nodded.

"As in Gene and Belle's friend?"

Shauntal gasped. "You know Gene?!" She asked excitedly.

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, in fact-"

"Did you hear that Cofagrigus? We're finally going to get to see them again!"

The Cofagrigus smiled. "Quite exciting," He said in a very Trottingham like accent. "I do hope I get to see Mage again."

"Um, excuse me?" Twilight said, reminding them she was there. "I just came back to get my dress, but I can take you to Gene and Belle, they're up in Canterlot so-"

"Thank you," Shauntal said with a smile, calming down from her outburst. "It's been too long since I've seen those two, how are they anyway?"

"Well Gene's a Gallade, Twilight said,carefully trotting around Cofagrigus as she made her way to the staircase. "And I need my dress because their wedding is tomorrow."

"Really?" Cofagrigus asked, with a smile. "Good for them, I was rooting for those two."

"We all were," Shauntal said with a sigh.

"Anyway," Twilight said. "Just... make yourselves at home for now, I'll be right back." Twilight rushed upstairs and closed her bedroom door behind her. "Calm down, Gene said Shauntal's Cofagrigus was different... and liked to play chess."

Twilight opened on of her drawers and pulled out a game of chess. "Well, it'll probably help me get over my fear at least." She shrugged and trotted over to her closet, pulling out her coronation dress, as well as Spikes tuxedo, she nodded. "Alright, think that's it."

Making her way back downstairs, the various outfits and boardgames in held her magic, she peeked around the corner and saw Spike talking with Shauntal. Apparently hearing, or maybe smelling her, Cofargigus turned towards her and smiled.

Twilight shuddered a little bit. _Let's just get this over with._ She thought to herself, trotting towards the Ghost Pokémon.

* * *

It was late in the evening in Canterlot and Elena was looking for Nick. He had missed their date earlier, and she hadn't seen him since, neither had Terra, or anyone else she asked.

"What did you get yourself into this time?" She wondered aloud.

Elena knocked on the door to Nick's room, she had checked their earlier, but since it was getting later, she hoped he might have returned their after whatever it was that interrupted their date.

"Nick?" She asked. "Are you there?"

No answer came, but Elena used her aura sense to look through the door. Nick was in his room, and he seemed... depressed.

Elena's vision returned to normal and she pushed the door open. "Nick?" She asked, peeking around the door. "Are you alright?"

Nick looked up at Elena, worry in his eyes. "Elena... yeah, I'm fine, sorry about earlier."

"Nick, don't lie to me," _You know it never works_. Elena said sadly.

Nick looked down sadly. "Sorry."

Elena walked over to the bed and sat down next to Nick. The silence felt... unnatural. It was not like him to be so quiet around her.

"Have you ever wanted to be with another male?" Nick blurted out.

Now, if Terra or any other creature asked her that question, Elena would struggle to keep the blood from rushing to her cheeks. But this was coming from Nick. The way he felt saying those words, was just... wrong. She could feel his very aura emanating nothing but confusion, and maybe even disgust?

She refused to even think why Nick would even feel such a way when she sat down beside him. Elena waited for him to continue, her stoic mask holding firm.

"It's just... did you fall for me because I was your trainer? For weeks it was just the two of us, ever since I caught you as a little Riolu. We trained everyday, to grow stronger so that we could become **her** protege. You never really hung out with other Pokémon except for Terra and Steelix-" Nick continued to blather on, just like he always does.

And Elena continued to quietly listen, just like she always has.

"-Did you make yourself settle for me, instead of finding your own mate?" Nick finished, he practically yelled the final word. His ears peeled back to his head, he lowered his voice as he continued. "I mean, me and Terra, would... could probably find you a nice guy." He wasn't even looking at her anymore. "Lucario is probably pretty handsome right? I mean sure you basically beat each other senseless but he wants a nice female to settle down with right?"

Elena could hear his heart hammering against his ribs, as if threatening to break through his chest and into her paws.

Her heart was not faring any better either.

Elena steadied herself, she calmed both her heart and mind before she started to speak. "Do you remember that one Veteran Trainer we met when we got lost on Route 22? Trisha, I think her name was, and her Tyrantrum."

Nick nodded. Yet his eyes stayed locked onto his claws as he continued to fidget.

"For years she waited in that small clearing, every day for her lover that she waved goodbye to decades ago. Whether there was rain or snow, thunder and lightning, she endured it all. Right by her side was Tyrantrum."

"That old fossil journeyed through the woods with her every, single, time. He was her shelter as the blistering northern winds threatened to freeze her where she stood. He took every single jolt of lightning that dared to strike near the clearing where Trisha stood vigil." Elena's voice grew louder. "Even as the rain made his skin crawl as the drops crawled into the cracks between his scales, he stood by her side EVERY. DAMN. DAY." She practically growled the last words.

Elena got up from the bed and stood before Nick. He turned away. She moved to grab one of his paws, only for him to try and yank it away like she was in-flamed.

He failed as two stronger paws took hold of his own and placed it just under her chest spike. "Back on Earth, I would've happily followed you until the end of my days, just like how Tyrantrum did with Trisha. Because you are my friend."

Elena could feel Nick's aura brighten, casting away the cloud of despair. His long head raised up to meet her eyes. "Ever since we earned our place within the Gym, I gave up any notion of finding a mate because I knew their love would never hold a candle to the friendship that we share."

"Young? Never wanted any, besides when we got Terra she was basically a large child and not the lovable wart that she has grown into. That was enough for me."

Elena felt her words bringing light to Nick's soul. "I'll admit, you getting turned into a Zoroark was a... surprise. The friend who I would gladly fight for in honorable battles was suddenly turned into something I never thought possible."

"What?" Nick asked, gaze enraptured by her own.

"Someone who knows that in my silence, I was not ignoring them, but listening to their every word. That even though my joy rarely reaches my face, my smile shines behind my eyes. That to me, the smell of steel was more pleasing than any flower that could grow," Elena dragged his paw to her cheek. "Someone who understands me more than any other. All these things and more. And for each and every thing you know about me, I know about you just as well."

"For every Pokémon that was held in captivity, there were a hundred that chose to be caught by those worthy of their power. To stay with their trainers. You earned my loyalty, you've earned my friendship. And now... even as you dare to question both my feelings and your own," she smiled. "You have earned my love."

Before Nick could even attempt to protest, Elena tackled him onto the bed, her muzzle latched onto his own.

* * *

Terra walked up to Nick's room with a frown on her face, she had heard from Mage that the Mismagius had seen him earlier, and that she had felt depressed just looking at him. Worrying that something was wrong with him, or Elena, or their (soon to be) budding romance, she decided to check up on him.

On the other side of the door, the couple heard light knocks against the door and pulled their lips apart in surprise. "Nick, you alright?" Terra's voice could be heard from the other side. Both Nick and Elena held their breath. "Every Pokémon that saw you head here said you looked pretty down, so I thought you wanted to make me smash a few boulders, like in the good old days?"

No response.

"Nick?" Terra tried to open the door, but it was locked. She gnashed her teeth together. "Fine! If your gonna be like this, I'll get Elena and we're going to drag you out of there by your mane."

The sound of her tiny footsteps were muffled, they soon faded off down the hallway. The occupants of the room breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

The door exploded inwards, the room was coated with wood chips and pieces of a poor door. "The guards' said that ELLIE'S IN HERE-" She gasped, her breathe lost at the sight before her.

On the bed, both Nick and Elena looked at her incredulously. Wrapped in each other's embrace. Nick's long red mane coiled around the Lucario, pulling her smaller frame even closer to his chest. As for Elena, her arms were wrapped around his body protectively, yet her head was cradled underneath his muzzle. The body language between them made no sense.

Were they comforting one another?

Did the stick up Elena's butt finally snap, putting slivers in all the wrong places and she needed Nick to help pull them out?

Did Nick try to take off the blue hair band thingie that all Zoroarks have?

All that crossed Terra's mind and more, but one question rose above the rest and was the first one out of her mouth

"Are you two... in a relationship?" She quietly asked, her eyes wide as the words tumbled from her mouth, as though they were never to be used.

Both Nick and Elena stared at one another. Their eyes met as words unsaid passed between them. They looked back to Terra, with a small smile they nodded.

Terra lost all feeling in her legs. She fell to her knees, as tears, happy wonderful tears, cascaded down her cheeks.

"It's beautiful."


	48. Chapter 45

Gene blinked awake and smiled at the sleeping form of Belle across from him. _She always looks so cute when she's asleep_. He thought to himself, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, causing her to wake up.

"Hi," She said sleepily, sitting up and stretching out.

"Morning sleepy head," Gene said with a laugh. "We have a big day ahead of us."

"Mhm," Belle said groggily, then she froze, her arms still stretched outwards. "Gene," She said. "We're getting married today."

Gene turned to Belle, a smile on his face. "I know," He leaned forward and kissed her.

"No Gene," She said. "We're getting married. Today. In a few hours."

Gene blinked once and said. "Huh... you're right." He looked at Belle and after a moment both their eyes widened.

"We need to get ready!" They shouted together.

The soon to be married couple leapt from their bed and raced to opposite sides of the room before stopping and turned to face each other. "What do we have to do?" Gene asked.

"Well... Rarity still has our clothes," Belle said.

"And Pinkie is planning the entire thing," Gene continued.

"We have the venue," Belle recalled.

"And Pinkie said she invited everyone we told her to... or at least everyone who we've found since we got here," Gene finished, remembering a few friends who they still hadn't found.

The pair walked back over to their bed and sat down. "Huh," Belle said. "I guess we just... wait?"

"I guess so," Gene said. "Last time was more... hectic."

"Last time you almost got arrested," Belle reminded him.

"My point still stands."

* * *

"Okay, everyone off," Pinkie ordered as she exited the train that had just pulled into Canterlot station. She was followed soon after by Fang, River, Juniper, Webber, Solana and Plusle, Lunick and Minun, Iris, Misty, May, Blaziken, and Spike.

Once everyone had exited the train Pinkie hopped back in and pushed a large cart with what looked like a cake on it, covered by a very large cake cover.

"Okay everyone, listen up," Pinkie began. "We all know why were here."

"Because Gene and Belle invited us to their wedding right?" Spike asked.

"Partially. We're here to make sure Gene and Belle have the superest, duperest, most awesomazing wedding in the history of weddings!"

"Right," Iris said. "And how are we going to do that?"

"It's simple," Pinkie said, pulling over a rolling chalkboard with several diagrams on it. "Step one," Pinkie's smacked her yard stick against the first picture. "Rarity, who came back to Canterlot yesterday with the outfits, will take Belle to get her into her wedding dress, and then pass her off to Fluttershy and Applejack before the wedding while she gets Gene suited up."

Moving onto the next scene, she began again. "Step two, I need someone to be the flower girl, and the ring bearer, I was going to have River be the flower girl, but, as several of you pointed out on the way here, she doesn't have arms, so," Pinkie looked at the assembled Pokémon. "I need a volunteer."

Looking at each other, Solana and Iris both took a step back. "I can do it," May volunteered.

"Or me," Misty said at the same time.

Pinkie smiled. "Compromise, you'll both do it."

"But we can just-"

"No arguing!" Pinkie shouted. "And a ring bearer." She added.

"I want to do this," Fang said. "I want to be part of today."

Pinkie smiled and patted the Houndoom on the head. "Of course you can Fang... you can hold a pillow in you mouth, right?"

Fang nodded.

"Great!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Turning back to her chalkboard, Pinkie pointed at another diagram. "Step three, we have to make sure the ceremony goes off without a hitch, well, except for Gene and Belle getting hitched," she laughed. "That's funny. Why would that word mean two things like that?"

"Pinkie," Spike said, snapping his fingers. "Focus."

Pinkie blinked once, then nodded. "Right, Princess Celestia already ordained Cynthia, so that's done, and we'll have a small group of guards to make sure no one barges in uninvited."

"Like last time," Iris said with a nod. "Good thinking Pinkie."

"Thanks Iris," Pinkie said with a smile. "After they're pronounced husband and wife, and once everyone's cleared out of the wedding hall, the party moves to the royal ballroom, where Celestia's letting me throw the reception."

Pinkie pushed the chalkboard away. "But you can leave that to me and Discord."

"So... what do the rest of us do?" River asked.

Pinkie smiled. "Mingle, talk to friends, make new ones, basically enjoy yourselves today," Pinkie said. "Now go on everyone, up to the castle, I'll be along in a little with the cake."

The group nodded and left Pinkie with the cake, but before she began her track to the castle, she froze, then collapsed to the ground. "I FORGOT THE BACHELORETTE PARTY!"

* * *

Celestia sighed as another round of meetings continued. After the new laws had been drawn up and old ones amended, it had become a matter of sorting out anything that needed to be re-amended or removed.

Golden Horn was vocally against it but there wasn't much he could do anymore. The world had changed and he would have to change with it. Celestia just had to keep an eye on The Minoan Empire for a while...

Faris had been... quiet, ever since his daughter's and Thunderhooves' speech a few days before. The elder Saddle Arabian had kept mostly quiet at the meetings, occasionally adding something but mostly silent. It was either a sign he was really thinking about what had been said, or he was planning something.

At this point, Celestia had more important things on her mind, mainly the wedding scheduled for later today. She was wondering what she should get Gene and Belle for as a wedding gift when someone pulled her back to the meeting.

"... Celestia?" Trotankhamun asked.

"Hm?" Celestia turned to the young king. "What was that?"

"Are you alright Princess?" Halfpaw inquired. "You seem distracted."

Celestia sighed. "Apologies everyone," She said. "My mind is elsewhere right now, some friends of mine are getting married today and I suppose I'm focused on that at the moment."

"A wedding?" Carapace inquired curiously.

"Oh right," John said. "That's today. Man, that Pinkie Pie works fast."

"She helped set up our wedding too," Cadence said. "If that was any indication, then this will one will be lovely."

"I certainly hope so," Twilight said. "Gene and Belle deserve it."

"_Don't worry, Miss Pie has taken quite a few precautions to prevent anything from ruining it,"_Arceus said. _"And I'll be in attendance as well."_ The Alpha Pokémon smiled. _"It has been quite some time since I attended a wedding."_

"Aren't we getting off topic here?" Shredder asked. "It's wonderful your friends are getting married, but we're supposed to be discussing these new laws."

"True. However, I do believe we have covered most of what we need already. If anything, might I suggest we take the day off. A break after the last few days worth of political debate might do us all some good," Luna suggested.

"The Princess makes a fair point," Halfpaw said. "Most of what's left is of little concern anyway, petty laws and whatnot."

"Then we're in agreement?" Celestia asked.

Most of the leaders nodded. "Then we shall reconvene for our final meeting on the morrow," She said. "When we will discuss the final few laws, and go over anything we may have missed."

"_Very good,"_ Arceus said with a nod. _"Then if you'll excuse me, I have to alert some of my children of something."_

Arceus vanished in his signature flash of gold.

Once he was gone, several of the rulers got up and made their way out of the room. Twilight smiled to herself. "Meeting done early, and I have time to help Pinkie set everything up."

* * *

"Just hold still darling," Rarity said as she put the finishing touches on Belle's dress. "And Voila." Rarity smiled as she straightened Belle's veil. Looking over her handiwork Rarity sighed. "You look positively radiant Belle."

"Thanks," Belle said. "Can I see now?"

Rarity was about to pull a full body mirror over when she noticed on last detail. "Just a moment," She said before trotting out of the room. "I know I saw some around here, ah hah!"

Rarity trotted back into the room holding a single red rose in her magic. Pinning it to the right trap of Belle's dress, she smiled. "Sometimes it's the little things that really pull an outfit together." She floated a bouquet of white roses and babies breath to Belle and stepped aside, allowing Belle to see herself fully in the mirror.

Belle's eyes widened as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Is that really me?" She asked.

Rarity chuckled. "But of course dear, don't act so surprised," Rarity walked up next to Belle and smiled up at her. "You look positively gorgeous."

Belle continued to stare at herself in the mirror. "Today's the day," She said with a smile. "I'm finally marrying the man I love."

"Oh this is so romantic," Rarity squealed. "Forbidden love, finally allowed to bloom, a wedding with friends and family, oh, it's like something out of a fairy tale."

Belle blushed as she realized she'd likely be hearing a lot more of her nickname in the next few days.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me," Rarity said. "I have to go see to it that your betrothed gets into his tuxedo without mutilating it." Rarity shook her head to clear that image from her mind. "I leave you in capable hooves."

As Rarity left the room, Fluttershy, in the dress she wore to Twilight's coronation, and Applejack, in the dress she wore to the gala, came in.

"Oh Belle," Fluttershy said. "You look amazing."

"She's right on the mark there sugarcube," Applejack said. "Rarity really outdid herself this time."

Belle blushed and looked back at her reflection. "I don't know how I could ever repay her for this."

"Just enjoy your weddin' Belle," Applejack said. "Ya'll deserve it."

Belle smiled, wondering what Gene would think of her dress, and how he would look in a tuxedo.

* * *

"Just be careful with the sleeves," Rarity said as she floated Gene his tuxedo. "I did my best to accommodate for your blades but I've never worked on something so... sharp."

Gene shrugged, but nodded. "Don't worry, I've been getting better at not cutting things."

Rarity nodded and watched as Gene slid his blades into the sleeves of his tuxedo. He smiled once he managed to get both arms in without cutting the suit. Buttoning up the suit, he turned to Rarity and smiled nervously. "How do I look?"

"Positively dashing," Rarity said. "Take a look."

Rarity slid a mirror over to Gene, allowing him to get a good look at himself. "Hmm, I don't look half bad." He said with a smile.

"That's a drastic understatement darling," Rarity said, using her magic to straighten Gene's tie. "I must admit, your figure was a bit more difficult to work with then Belle, what with the blades and all."

Gene smiled. "I can't thank you enough for doing this for us Rarity," He said. "It means so much to me that-"

"I know dear," Rarity said with a smile. "And you'll have plenty of time to thank me after the wedding, but for now, just enjoy it."

Gene smiled and nodded. "I can't wait to see what you did for Belle's dress," He said.

Rarity chuckled. "Oh, I think you'll like it, she certainly did," She said with a smile.

"Oh really?" Gene asked. "Maybe I should go see her, make sure she's-"

"Oh no you don't," Rarity said, stepping in front of the door. "You're not allowed to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony."

"But... Belle," He began.

"Is in perfectly capable hooves," Rarity said. "Fluttershy and Applejack are with her right now, and will make sure everything goes smoothly."

"But-"

"No buts," Rarity said. "You'll see Belle soon enough, until then we best prepare," She smiled. "Do you remember your lines?"

* * *

"I didn't know the wedding was between two Pokémon," Trotankhamun said as he followed Princess Celestia. "I didn't even know Pokémon had weddings."

"Well Gene use to be human, so that might be part of it," Celestia said. "But a wedding's a wedding."

"I suppose that's true," Trotankhamun said. "So who else do I know is coming?"

"Well, Carapace for certain, I don't think Golden Horn, Victoria, or Faris are coming, and I'm not sure about Serva, Oceania, Amira, Thunderhooves, or Halfpaw." She blinked once, then added. "My sister, my niece, her husband, and Twilight are coming as well of course."

"And Arceus," Trotankhamun said dryly.

"Yes," Celestia said. "And I think he's bringing a few of his children with him."

The young king let out a low whistle. "A lotta big names at this thing," He turned to her and asked. "How come you're not performing the ceremony? Or Arceus or Twilight or someone?"

"Oh, I would have," Celestia said. "And if they'd asked I'm certain Arceus would have as well. But they wanted an old friend to perform the ceremony, finish what they started back on Earth."

This would be a first for Celestia, she had never actually sat in the audience at a wedding before.

"Makes sense," Trotankhamun said. "How did this get set up so fast anyway?"

"Pinkie Pie," Celestia said.

"Of course," Trotankhamun said with a chuckle, Celestia had sent Trotankhamun some of the Twilight's and her friends' friendship lessons, as well as occasionals newspaper articles and pictures. The ones involving Pinkie usually left the king laughing.

"Well, if you brought any dress clothes I think now would be a good time to get them," Celestia said with a smile.

"I think I might have a thing or two back on my airship," Trotankhamun said. "I'll see you at the wedding."

* * *

"Alright, I think that's enough chairs," Pinkie said.

"You sure?" Discord asked. "There aren't as many as I expected."

Pinkie giggled. "It's a wedding silly, and Gene and Belle have only been here a few weeks, and I don't think they've found all their friends yet, so there might not be as many as you'd think, but this is still a good number."

The Draconequus shrugged. "How did you figure out how many people were coming anyway?"

"Well, I asked Gene and Belle for a guest list, had to track down some of them here in Canterlot, then I asked Arceus who he was bringing, then I asked Princess Celestia who she was bringing, then I double checked with some of them, then I made this nifty little list." Pinkie held up the guests list and smiled. "And I added a few extra spaces, just in case someone unexpected shows up."

Discord smiled. "Well done Pinkie, now why don't we go finish setting up the reception? We still have some time before the guests should start arriving, let alone the bride and groom."

"Okie dokie," Pinkie said with a smile. "We're just about finished up here anyway." She hopped out the door, Discord floating after her. "Hey, you think the kitchens restocked their meat supply yet?"

* * *

Prince Blueblood was not a happy pony.

Ever since the Pokémon had arrived, his world had been turned upside down, and inside out, and added with the fact that he had been harassed on several occasions, he was not happy one bit. First that mutt had attacked him in his own home, then he had been chased around the city by some giant bees after he kicked some kind of large maggot, some Dragon in the gardens had left him in a tree for hours, he had been zapped by some lizard that had come with the Changelings, he'd had his shampoo replaced with itching cream by some floating hat, and once he had tried to seek retribution against the beast, some creature with a hideously large mouth had attacked him.

And now he had heard that the creature who had sicked the dog on him was in the castle for his wedding, this gave the Prince a perfect opportunity to show why no one made a mockery of him.

* * *

Gene stood at the altar, looking out at all the faces in the crowd. Some he knew very well, Iris, Juniper, and to his surprise and delight, Shauntal.

Some he had only met recently, but was still happy to call his friends, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, the Princesses, Korrina, Lucario, Blaziken, Solana, Lunick, Nick, Elena, Terra, as well as Seth, X, and their teams and John and Holly Heart.

Others he was slightly surprised had shown up, he'd expected Arceus, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and maybe Discord, but Arceus had brought Cresselia, Darkrai, Diancie, Hoopa, Keldeo, Virizion, Mew, Shaymin, Meloetta, and the Lake Trio with him.

He didn't know any of the rulers Celestia had brought with, though he recognized them from when they had first arrived. Emperor Carapace, Empress Serva, King Trotankhamun, and Queen Oceania.

There were a few others in attendance who Gene didn't know at all, Pony, Pokémon, and a few Changeling friends of those already there.

Cynthia stood in front of him and across from him, River and Mage stood/floated, Belle's bridesmaids. And Draco and Webber stood at his side, his groomsmen.

They all had one thing in common, all of them were smiling. Even the ones he barely knew were smiling.

With a nod from Cynthia, the music started to play. _Here we go,_ Gene thought to himself, straightening his tie.

The doors opened and May and Misty, both wearing wreaths of green and white flowers, walked in holding baskets of rose petals.

Gene smiled as the flower girls walked down the aisle, he'd have to thank them later.

Walking in behind them, Fang entered, his head upright, he held a small pillow in his jaw, on it, Gene knew, rested his and Belle's wedding rings.

As the song began to repeat its melody, Belle stepped into the room.

Gene's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat as he saw her. She looked beautiful in her dress, in every single conceivable way, she looked absolutely gorgeous.

Gene found he was unable to make his eyes look anywhere else, he had locked onto Belle's gaze and neither of them were going to be breaking it anytime soon.

But before Belle had made it halfway down the aisle, the doors swung open again, the guards posted on either side turned in shock to see Prince Blueblood enter the room.

"Oh no," Celestia groaned, mentally planning out how to inform the nobles about Blueblood's...unfortunate demise.

As Blueblood push his way past the guards, using a mix of force and political threats, all eyes in the room turned to him. Most had been staring in shock. Others in anger. Belle, who had dropped her bouquet, stood wide eyed as the stallion marched his way into the wedding ceremony. Her eyes starting to water up as yet again her wedding with the one she loved was crashed.

"You!" He snapped, pointing at Gene. "It's about time I gave you a piece of my mind."

While Blueblood marched up the aisle, he failed to notice that several beings, including Twilight, Luna, Cadence and Carapace had lit up their horns, while Arceus and Mage's eyes had begun to glow menacingly. And that Pinkie Pie was literally steaming.

It was only a matter of seconds before someone acted first, and the one who did surprised everyone.

Rarity took a deep breath, put on a smile, got up from her seat, and trotted into the aisle, blocking Blueblood's path before he could make it to the alter.

"Oh," he said. "It's _you_," he grunted in annoyance.

Rarity never lost her calm appearance. "Yes it is," she said. "And just what do _you_ think you're doing?"

Blueblood scoffed. "That _beast_ humiliated me and this... _wedding_ is the perfect opportunity to put those two in their proper place."

Rarity glared at Blueblood, and through gritted teeth said. "Surely you're not serious. You can't possibly be that... petty."

The Prince glared at Rarity. "Petty?" He asked. "Ever since these creatures showed up, I haven't been able to go an hour without seeing one of these things running around, making a mess of things, acting as if they belong here!" As he spoke, everyone in the room glared daggers at the arrogant stallion, especially Arceus, who at this point was contemplating in what way he was going to destroy the arrogant bug.

Throughout all of this, Rarity's smile had never left her face. Instead it had become colder, more... sadistic. "Well Blueblood," she began. "I don't think anyone here cares how you feel, and there is no way in Tartarus I'm letting you ruin this wedding."

Blueblood scoffed. "_You're_ going to stop _me_?" He asked with a laugh. "And just how do you plan on doing that? Going to sick one of your monsters on me?"

"No," Rarity said, surprising everyone. "I'm just going to do this."

Rarity's horn lit up and Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Oh please, what are you-"

*flash*

"-Going to do... to... me?" Blueblood looked around and saw that he was outside, and that he was several feet above the ground. "OW!"

Blueblood hit the ground as gravity caught up with him. Rubbing his head, he got up and glared back at the castle. "Why that little-"

There was a golden flash and Blueblood stopped talking. "...!?" Not because he wanted to, as Arceus had once again disabled his vocal cords.

Silently cursing Arceus, Rarity, and several others, Blueblood looked around to get his bearings. He was still on the castle grounds, but he was back near where the castles plumbing emptied into the sewage system.

Scrunching his face, he backed away from the offensive liquid only to freeze as he stepped in something wet and slimy. Looking back in horror, he saw he had stepped in some unidentifiable purple sludge, for which the best descriptor he could think of would be.

"Muk?"

The Prince nodded, then froze, then looked further back at the slime, spying a large crater in the slime, and two eyes staring back at him.

"Muk!" The Poison type smiled, happy to finally have some company again, before oozing forward, beginning to cover the stallion with its body,

Blueblood screamed silently as the Muk covered/hugged him, before finally passing out in fear and disgust.

"Muk?" The Muk slid off of the unconscious stallion and poked him, a worried expression on its face. "Muuuk?"

Back in the castle, Rarity nodded and headed back to her seat, ignoring the stares from her friends.

"Rarity," Twilight began. "How do you even know a teleportation spell?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "How do you think I move my fainting couch around darling?"

Twilight was going to continue, but she stopped when she heard a sound that most certainly should not be heard at a wedding.

Belle sobbed softly, still at the same place, halfway down the aisle.

Everyone was silent for a moment, all eyes either on Belle, or Gene. "Belle?" Gene said, breaking the silence as he stepped down from the altar and rushed to his beloved.

Tears still streaming from her eyes, Belle rushed forward to Gene and wrapped her arms around him. "Why?" She whimpered. "Why does this keep happening?"

"I'm so sorry love," Gene said, kissing Belle on the forehead. "I wish I knew, but I don't." He pulled away slightly and smiled at her. "But I still want to marry you, no matter how many times the wedding doesn't work out, I will always be willing to try again. So Belle," He got down on one knee and, still holding her hands, asked something he'd asked two times before. "Will you marry me?"

Despite herself, Belle smiled. "Gene," She said. "You know I'll always say yes."

"Awww," Cresselia and Cadence cooed at the same time.

Gene smiled and pointed to the band, and the music started up again.

Arms interlocked, Belle and Gene walked down the aisle together, Belle leaning her head on Gene's shoulder. Her eyes still watery, but a smile on her face.

Upon reaching the altar, the couple separated and the music stopped. Gene nodded to Cynthia, and the Champion began. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to play witness to the union of Gene, and Belle," She paused for a moment. "I think I'll skip over asking if anyone objects to be safe." This brought forth a few laughs from the gathered beings. "I know you two have been waiting a long time for this," Cynthia continued. "Your vows?"

"I'll start," Gene said.

"Belle," He began, reciting from memory. "I've known you for a long time now. When I first met you, my intention was to become a trainer, but I could never stand to see you hurt, even before I fell in love with you. And as time passed, and as we grew, our bond started to grow. And when you confessed your love to me, I knew right then and there that I was in love with you too. I had been for some time now, I just didn't realize it."

"Belle…" Gene took Belle's hand in his. "Meeting you was the best thing that could ever have happened to me. Spending time with you each and every day, made me happier and happier. Seeing you smile, even when I'm feeling down, puts a smile on my face. And… in this new world, we can finally live our lives in a new way. The way we always wanted. I love you Belle, and no matter what happens, I will always love you. Through life and death, nothing will ever change that, not even Arceus can change that. So thank you, Belle. Thank you for being the love of my life. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for loving me, and for all that you have done for me. Belle… I love you." Tears started to fall all throughout the room.

Belle smiled. "Gene…" She began. "When you asked me to join you on your adventure, I was taken back... I didn't know what to think, even though you were being truthful when you said it was up to me whether to go with you or not. And when I answered yes, I didn't know that it was going to be the best decision I ever made. I didn't know that I was going to fall in love with you. I didn't know that I was going to marry you. All I knew was that you seemed different."

"And as time moved on, and as I grew closer to you, my feelings for you grew. You were kind, gentle, you never yelled, or blamed me for anything I did wrong. You were my best friend, and soon you became something more. When I first told you that I loved you, I expected you to hate me. To think it was wrong. To think… the love I felt for you was wrong. But _I_ was wrong. You loved me too. You always did. And when you accepted my love, I knew I was going to be happy. I was going to be happy that I found my place in the world. Beside you. And no matter what happens, you will always be my mate. You will always be my love."

Cynthia used her tail to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Fang," She said. "The rings."

The Houndoom stepped forward and held the pillow out to Gene and Belle. "Are these...?" Gene asked, eyes wide as he picked up the ring with the green and red gem.

"Courtesy of Lord Arceus and Lady Diancie," Fang said with a smile.

Cynthia cleared her throat and continued. "Do you, Gene, take Belle to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do you part?"

"I do," Gene answered immediately, slipping Belle's Mega Stone onto her ring finger

"And do you Belle, take Gene to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do you part?"

"I do," Belle answered, sliding the Mega Ring onto Gene's finger.

"Then by the power vested in me by the sovereign nation of Equestria, with Arceus as my witness," Cynthia smiled. "I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the-"

Cynthia didn't get to finish her sentence before Gene and Belle had thrown their arms around each other and locked lips.

The applause from the audience, despite its small size, was tremendous, but Gene and Belle didn't hear any of it. Off in their own little world, where the only thing they knew was each other. They didn't even notice the light spark from their wedding rings. Or the fact that, for an instant, Belle's dress split and expanded, and her chest split into two. Or that Gene's blades expanded while his spike shrunk and a cape unfurled from his shoulders.

The transformation was quick and lasted only for an instant before they returned to normal, most of the attendees didn't even notice, among those who did were a very shocked Arceus and Seth, and a confused Lucario, who had only picked up on the change in their aura.

The two broke the kiss after a moment and turned to the crowd, both of them smiling. Belle noticed her bouquet still on the ground and floated it back to her. They still had their reception after all.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was gathered in the ballroom, either congratulating the newly wed couple, or mingling with the other guests.

"_How did he even get in?"_ Arceus asked Celestia.

The Princess sighed. "He ordered the guards to let him in and, since Pinkie left a few open invites in case anyone unexpected showed up..."

The Alpha Pokémon shook his head. _"I don't know how you put up with someone like him Princess."_

"Neither do I at times," Celestia replied. "But he won't be a bother to anyone for a while, he's in the hospital with a mild case of toxic shock." Celestia paused and turned to Arceus. "And he's mute again."

Arceus chuckled. _"Oh really? I wonder how that happened."_ Blueblood was lucky that Arceus hadn't done worse. Before Rarity had stepped in, he was considering making it so that Blueblood found himself very confused, and very deep underwater.

"I'm just glad everything worked out in the end," Celestia said, smiling at Gene and Belle as they caught up with Shauntal and Cofagrigus. "They just seem so happy."

Arceus looked at the couple and chuckled. _"Well,"_ He began. _"They certainly have plenty of reasons for that."_

Celestia got the feeling Arceus knew more than he was letting on, she was slightly perturbed that she would likely be on the receiving end of that wherever he was involved.

Back over near Gene and Belle, the newlyweds had finished catching up with Shauntal, and were talking with John, as the Infernape had pulled them aside.

"What did you want to talk to us about John?" Belle asked.

The Infernape let out a long sigh. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for what you two went through, not just what happened today, but what happened back on Earth too. I'm starting to really understand what love is, but I can't imagine how it felt... " He smiled. "But at least it has a happy ending right?"

Gene smiled and took Belle's hand. "Yeah," He said blissfully.

"And... And I have something for you two," John reached into Flubber (currently in trench coat form) and pulled a bottle of wine from one of the pockets. "I didn't really know what to get you two as a wedding gift, so I talked to Cadence and she suggested this."

Gene took the bottle and read the label. "Celestia Spice?"

John nodded. "Aged two hundred years," The Infernape said. "It's pretty good, just don't drink it all at once though," He chuckled. "Trust me, it was not fun."

Gene smiled and nodded, placing the bottle on a table behind them. "Thanks John."

"No problem and... just try to stay out of situations where something like that is likely to happen again, alright?"

Gene chuckled. "We'll try."

The three chatted for a while before John excused himself, saying he wanted to get another piece of the Oran Berry cake.

"Well, that was nice of him," Gene said, taking another look at the bottle.

"Yeah," Belle said gloomily. "Too bad I can't have any."

Gene chuckled and kissed his wife. "Don't worry, I promise I'll save you some."

Belle smiled.

* * *

Seth smiled to himself as the ceremony ended and the reception began. Aside from that pompous noble that had interrupted the ceremony, who Seth would have shocked if that mare hadn't gotten up first, it went smoothly. He was still pretty banged up from the other day, but he ditched most of his bandages, letting his fur hide his injuries.

Selena and Ignis had been having a rather animated discussion since the reception began, while Apple Fritter had been catching up with Applejack. That just left Rika to keep her trainer company as he sat back and watched.

"So how come you haven't said hello?" Rika said. "I'm sure that they'd like to see you."

"I don't know. I just feel like I'd be interrupting them," Seth replied. Rika frowned and the wrapped a ribbon around his waist.

"Nonsense, they liked you enough to invite you, so come on!" Seth had no room to refuse as the surprisingly strong Fairy led his across the room and over to Gene and Belle.

The couple had just finished talking to the Infernape from earlier when Seth and Rika approached.

"Hey there lovebirds~" Rika grinned, "Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Belle smiled. "And thank you for coming."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Seth said. "You guys really deserve this!" He reached into his bag and pulled out a small present. "Sorry it's not much, I've been laid up for the last few days."

Gene thanked him as he took it and noted the bandages on the Luxray. "What happened?"

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it." Seth didn't want to ruin their day with what he'd just gone through. "It's all been sorted anyway." He motioned at the gift, "It's a camera," he said. "You know, for making memories."

Gene smiled. "It's perfect, thank you very much!" Gene said happily. "So what have you been up to since we saw you last? Anything interesting?"

"Well…" Seth smiled coyly. "After talking with Princess Celestia, I'm going to host a Pokémon Contest here in Canterlot."

"You're bringing back Contests?" Belle asked, but Seth quickly glanced around to see if anyone heard.

"That's right, but I'm keeping it a surprise for the moment. I'm going to ask Arceus to make an announcement about it once it's all set up."

"Well, best of luck then Seth!" Gene said, shaking his paw. "I hope it goes well."

Seth nodded and bid the couple another round of congratulations before leaving them to other guests that were waiting to talk to them.

* * *

"_Sooo... is this where we leave the gifts?"_ Hoopa asked, floating up next to Gene and Belle.

"Umm... I guess so," Gene said truth be told they hadn't expected to get many gifts.

Hoopa clapped her hands. _"Oh goody,"_ The Mischief Pokémon removed one of the rings from around her horns and reached inside. _"Just a sec, I know it's in here... ah ha!"_

Hoopa pulled a rectangular object, a book of some sorts, from her ring. _"After the whole sealing thing with gramps, a lot of books ended up getting... burned, for one reason or another."_

Across the ballroom, Twilight Sparkle shuddered.

"_This is one of the last copies of this book in existence,"_ Hoopa said. _"But, I can't really do anything with it, so here."_

She tossed them the book and Gene fumbled to catch it. _"Enjoy you two!"_ Hoopa called as she frantically flew off.

"Well that was weird," Belle said. "What'd she give us anyway?"

Gene turned the book over and raised an eyebrow at the title. "What the heck is a Poké Sutra?"

* * *

As the night wore on, a few more gifts were given, including a 'surprise' from Princess Celestia that she promised to reveal later, and a heartfelt compliment from Carapace saying that there love was absolutely delicious, the biggest surprise was about to come from X and the members of ShadowFox construction.

X walked up to the happy couple nervously for some reason, wearing a bow tie around his neck. Alongside him were Naruto, Apocalypse, Inti, Azisa, and an almost comatose Nell (who was currently riding X on his back, and had a mile wide smile on her face, most likely the result of the love she feasted on). Belle and Gene had to stifle a laugh as Naruto and Apocalypse were also wearing bow ties.

They needed to ask about how the Construction Team had found a bow tie large enough to fit Apocalypse.

"Uh, hey."

"X, there's no need to be nervous," Belle replied. "We won't bite."

"Sorry..." X started to rub the back of his head. "It's just that, well since Blueballs or whatever his name is crashed the wedding..."

"Blueblood."

"Thanks Naruto. Since Blueblood crashed the wedding, I'm kinda afraid that a small army of challengers came with him. They always seem to find me. Mason is but one of many. Trust me on that."

Gene gave X a reassuring smile. "Well, we're thankful it was just Blueblood...and that Rarity was there."

"Thank god for small miracles, am I right?" X chuckled.

_"You're welcome!"_ Arceus called.

"...moving on!" A clap of the hands put the conversation back on it's rails. "Well, earlier on in the day, we got into a conversation with several of your friends. "

Nell was the next to speak. "We wanted to give you a present, but we... don't really know you. And well, we didn't know what you wanted."

"So we asked around before the wedding started." Naruto's turn was next. "We got some good ideas as well."

Azisa was next. "But we soon learned of an interesting tidbit about your housing situation from Rarity."

Gene and Belle winced slightly, a motion only Naruto's trained eyes noticed. Clearly their lack of permanent housing was a problem that they were trying to forget for the moment.

"She's been very kind to us." Belle replied. "All of our new friends have been, but Rarity has done a lot for us."

"Well, the point is this. As a wedding present from us..." X gently motioned his hand towards the couple. "ShadowFox Construction gifts you, Gene and Belle with a house to call your own, free of charge! What do you think?"

Needless to say, Gene and Belle were quite shocked at what X was planning on giving them. "You... what?" Gene asked, dumbfounded.

"We're building you a house! Come on, you can at least be a little excited about it."

"I... you..." Gene shook his head. "I don't know what to say, I mean... thank you but," He started.

"No buts." X puffed out his chest, looking quite ridiculous. "You two have gone through a lot lately, and you need a place you settle down and call your own. Trust us, ask anyone from Laverre City. They can tell you that we do good work."

"X, really, you don't need to do something so...lavish." Gene blushed in embarrassment. They did need a house, but for some reason Gene felt a little awkward about having X just build him and Belle a house just like that.

"I insist. Trust me, it's not a problem at all. This is what we do for a living after all." X smiled a large goofy grin as Azisa handed the couple a blank piece of paper. "So, all we need you to do is write down any special requests so we have a general plan to work with and get it back to us by the time the Summit is over. Then we'll head on down to Ponyville and you'll have a nice house to call your own in no time."

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" Gene smiled, as he asked the question he already knew the answer to.

"Course not. The best part is that you can't return it because we haven't built it yet."

"Thank you," Gene said with a smile. "I doubt that I can say it enough but, thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Not long after that, the band had arrived, to the surprise of the bride and groom, it was Octavia's quartet, along with Vinyl, who was going to DJ a little later.

To really start off the reception, Gene and Belle had the traditional first dance as husband and wife to a slow song played by Octavia and her band. It had been the perfect moment, and after the first song ended, Octavia had announced that the next one would be for all the couples.

"Shall we my dear?" Gene asked, holding his hand out to Belle again, eager to continue their dance of love.

Belle smiled and took Gene's hand, smiling. She had been looking forward to this for a long time, and the longer she danced with her husband, the better.

Across the room, Nick tapped Elena on the shoulder. "Elena?" He asked, tapping his claws together nervously. Suddenly, he straightened up, confidence practically rolling off him as said to his date, "May I have this dance?" And held out his hand much like Gene had done.

Elena smiled. "You may," she said, taking his paw and leading him onto dance floor. Dumbfounded Nick looked at Elena questioningly, "But I'm leading." And those were the last words between them until the end of the night.

Around the ballroom, other couples did the same.

Lunick held Solana close as the music began, and Darkrai and Cresselia hovered off to one side.

Korrina watched the couples dancing to the music, and almost jumped in surprise when she felt a paw on her shoulder. "Korrina," Lucario said. "Would you like to dance?"

Korrina almost said no, but remembered what she had talked about with her grandpa a few days ago. "... Alright," She finally said.

Lucario smiled as he led Korrina out to the dance floor. Placing on paw on the square of her back, and holding her right hand with his left, they began to dance.

"This is... nice," Korrina said, not very convincingly.

Lucario sighed. "Korrina, how about this, until this song ends, we both promise to be completely honest with each other," Lucario smiled. "How does that sound?"

Korrina hesitated for a moment, then said. "I… I think I can do that..."

Lucario nodded. "Good, I'll start. Korrina, I really like you. I've honestly had feelings for you for quite a while now, even before we were brought here," he sighed, looking her straight in the eyes.

Korrina looked surprised at that, but nodded all the same. "And I... I still feel kinda uncomfortable about this," she admitted. "Not just about you," she amended quickly. "The entire situation, I still don't really see myself as a Pokémon and while I get that the laws back on Earth were wrong in some cases," she shook her head. "I just don't know how I feel."

Lucario just nodded again, he'd expected an answer like that. "Korrina," he began again. "I know that you're still not entirely comfortable in your new body, or in this new world but... would you be willing to give me a chance? Just one chance to prove myself to you, to prove that this... that _we_ can work?"

Korrina looked into Lucario's eyes, she saw the hope in them, as well as the fear and apprehension. "Lucario," Korrina began. "You're pretty much my best friend," Lucario's ears drooped slightly. "And honestly... I haven't been acting like it."

Lucario raised an eyebrow.

"Back on Earth, most of what we did together was training and Gym Battles and here? Even though we can talk to each other, it hasn't been much different," Korrina sighed. "Lucario, would you be willing to actually spend some time as friends, and actually acting like friends, before we try at a relationship?"

For a moment, Lucario didn't know what to say, then he smiled. "I think that's a wonderful idea Korrina," he said.

Korrina smiled, then frowned slightly. "So... you realize that... this," she tapped Lucario's shoulder, doing her best to indicate their dancing. "Will be the last time we do anything like this, at least for a while."

Lucario nodded. "I understand."

Meanwhile, across the room, another not really a couple was dancing as well. "You know you don't have to do this Blaziken," May said.

"I want to though," he assured her. "A beautiful girl like you should have at least one slow dance on a night like this."

May smiled. "Aw, that's sweet of you."

Blaziken chuckled as he began to dance with May. He had dreamed of doing something like this for a long time, but hadn't been able to until recently.

"So," he began. "What did you think of the wedding?... After the... incident, with that Prince that is."

May rolled her eyes. "That guy so got what was coming to him," she said. "And I thought it was beautiful, especially their vows." May wiped her eyes, recalling the sweet words Gene and Belle had spoken to each other.

"And to think," Blaziken said. "They started out not that different from you and I."

May thought about that for a moment, he had a point, ever since she had parted ways with Ash and Brock, and aside from about a year after Max started his Pokémon journey where she accompanied her little brother, May had traveled mostly by herself, and Blaziken had always been there.

After a while, she even found herself keeping him out of his Pokéball more and more, to either have someone to talk to, or, well, she didn't feel all that safe alone in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.

"I guess you're right," May said a small smile on her face. "Just so you know, you're my best friend too."

Blaziken smiled and chuckled, the two continued their dance and, after a while, Blaziken found himself unable to tear his gaze away from May's face. "Blaziken?" May asked, noticing his gaze. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he replied. "Nothing's wrong."

May frowned. "Then why are you staring at me?"

For a moment, Blaziken considered what he was going to say. "Why wouldn't I?" He asked. "You look beautiful."

May blushed. "Blaziken," she said softly. "Th-thank you."

Blaziken sighed. "May... I'm going to say something, and I want you to take it word for word, can you do that?"

May looked at Blaziken in confusion, the nodded. "Yeah... what do you want to tell me?"

Blaziken closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "May... I... I..." he gulped. "I lo... I really like you and... and I have for a while."

May's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "Oh," she said, her light blush deepening.

"Yeah," Blaziken said, his own blush beginning to show even through his red feathers. "I know how you feel about Poképhilia," he said dejectedly. "But... I just had to let you know, especially now that you're a Pokémon."

"W-well," May began. "I'm not going to lie, I'm more than a little surprised, I mean looking back I guess I can see it but... you're sure this isn't just because I'm a Delphox?"

Blaziken shook his head. "I felt the same way back on Earth," He admitted.

"Ah," May began. "I... I don't know..." The Delphox shook her head. She wasn't suppose to feel conflicted, she should just tell Blaziken she only liked him as a friend. So why wouldn't her lips move?

Taking a moment to clear her thoughts, May looked at the facts. One, she was a Pokémon. Two, she was almost definitely going to remain a Pokémon indefinitely. Three, Blaziken was her best friend, and she was at a wedding between a former human and his Gardevoir. Four... she hadn't stopped dancing with Blaziken.

"May?" He asked.

She took a deep breath. "If you had asked me this before today, I probably would have said no," May admitted. "But after seeing them," she gestured to Gene and Belle as the Gallade spun his wife before pulling her back to him. "I just... can't. I can't just say no." She shook her head. "I'm not saying yes, not exactly, and I'm not saying I feel the same way but... I'm willing to give it a chance, to see if what I feel for you is... something more."

Blaziken smiled and, to May's surprise, leaned in and planted a kiss on her cheek. "That's all I could ever ask of you," he said.

May, still blushing, smiled ever so slightly. Maybe... maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall.

The band was quite good and though Seth was feeling a bit better, he thought that dancing might be a bit much. He was never much of a dancer anyway.

Selena and Ignis were trying to dance, but Selena had to get up on her hind legs and it looked a little awkward. Rika had decided to raid the sweets table whilst everyone else was dancing and was now chatting with a pink mare with a frizzy mane.

"You ain't much of a dancer huh?" the voice caused Seth's head to snap up and he saw Apple Fritter standing in front of him. When the invite came a few days ago, she'd gone out with the girls to get a dress and she was quite pretty. Her mane had been tied into a long, single braid and her tail was puffed out a bit with some extensions added to it. The dress she wore was a bottle green with long sleeves that covered her front legs. It had a short lace train and had a white corset around the waist and a shining red apple brooch just below the neck.

"Not really, I still trip on occasion just by walking." Seth laughed dryly. "Can you imagine the disaster if I tried and danced?"

"Aw fiddlesticks, ah bet you'd pick it up in no time!" Fritter smiled. "Now c'mon, let's go!"

Seth just sighed as she dragged out to the dance floor just in time for a slow song to start. He noticed a lot of other couples getting closer, like a Lucario and a Zoroark, as well as two Lucario… wait, was that Korrina?

"Hey, eyes down here!" Fritter said, bopping him on the nose. "Now we'll take it nice and slow alright? Put yer head over my shoulder like this." Seth nodded and keened forward, placing his head over her right shoulder.

"Alright, now ah'm gonna start moving like so. Just move yer hooves… paws, like so!" she motioned with her hooves on what to do and Seth followed her lead. Soon, the pair was swaying from side to side in a slow rhythm.

"That's it, pretty easy right?" Fritter smiled. "Yer a natural."

"I'm a natural at dancing on four legs? Never thought I'd hear someone say that," Seth laughed. Though he had to admit, it felt nice. Apple Fritter wore a light perfume, which was of course, apple scented. He just closed his eyes and let the music control his movements…

Rika, who had been enjoying the company of Pinkie Pie, looked out to the dance floor once she heard the slow songs start.

"I wonder if Seth wants to… dance?" Her train of thought derailed spectacularly when she saw Seth dancing with Apple Fritter. "Aww… she beat me to it," Rika pouted. Well, she could have this one. After all, she did help Seth a lot the other day. But it was so on once the wedding was over!

* * *

"Attention everyone," Vinyl called over the speaker system. "We've all had a lot of fun here tonight, but it's time for the final dance between the bride and groom." Vinyl picked up a record in her magic and set it on the turntable. "And they've selected a special song for the occasion."

Putting the needle onto the record, a tune began to play.

A spotlight lit up the center of the dance floor, revealing Gene and Belle holding each other, as the music began, the couple followed its rhythm, their eyes never leaving each other.

They had considered ending the night with another slow song, but they'd danced to plenty of those. Tonight, they were going out, as Gene had put it when he requested the song, in a flurry of passion.

The guests all looked on in awe as they danced, slowly picking up speed as the music continued.

"It's like they were made for each other," Serva observed.

Hearing this, Mew smiled, as did Princess Cadence. _"They were,"_ Mew said, referring to the connection between the two final forms of Ralts.

"They were," Cadence replied, talking about the love she didn't even need her powers to see blossomed between them.

Ignorant to the rest of the world, Gene and Belle continued their dance, not missing a beat, Gene lifted Belle into the air and spun her around before placing her back on her feet and returning to the dance.

All this time, the couples movements had been picking up speed as their confidence grew. They knew where to step and when to step automatically, one of the many benefits of being psychic.

Celestia watched the pair with a smile, she hoped they liked her surprise for them. Moreover, she hoped they had some energy left after this.

"It's as if they're glowing," Luna said softly, drawing her sisters attention. "Glowing with pure unbridled love."

Celestia chuckled softly and turned back to watching the dance. To her surprise, she could see it as well.

"That is... strange," Celestia said. "Though perhaps it's normal for Pokémon to do that."

Back on the dance floor, Belle and Gene continued their dance of passion, their movements becoming faster and faster as they danced, and somehow, ignorant to the glow that was slowly enveloping their bodies.

"_Dad?"_ Diancie asked. _"Something's not right."_

Arceus paid no heed to the warning, instead smiling as he watched the pair dance, the glow still growing brighter. _"So it seems I was not mistaken."_

As the music stopped on a high note, Gene and Belle paused, and the glow enveloped them. Several ponies gasped, while the Pokémon all stared in confusion.

Once the glow faded, everyone gasped again.

Gene was leaning over Belle, holding his wife in a dip, they were both panting from their quick dancing and Gene and Belle had changed.

Belle's dress had expanded, now resembling the wedding dress which, somehow, had changed to just cover the upper part of the dress growing from her body. Her chest spike and sprouted outwards and split in two separate directions.

Gene's spike, on the other hand, had shrunk back into his chest, but his blades had expanded and were now hemmed with red. His crest had gotten taller and curled upwards slightly as well, and a white cape sprouted from his shoulders and reached down just past his knees.

"Mega Evolution," Juniper whispered, turning to Twilight, she saw that the Alicorn was barely containing her enthusiasm about having finally witnessed something like this.

"Gallades can do that?" X whispered to Naruto.

"I dunno." At that, Naruto turned to Arceus and asked "Can he do that?"

"_Yes,"_ Arceus answered. _"They can."_

"He can do that."

"Oh. Okay. Just checking."

Selena and Ignis watched from the side, a slight pang of jealousy rising in their hearts. It had been some time since they were last able to Mega Evolve.

"It's beautiful," Selena whispered.

"I wanna fight the Gallade," Ignis grinned, earning a facepaw from Selena.

Belle and Gene just stared at each other for a moment, completely speechless. "Wow," Gene said finally. "You look even more amazing than before."

Belle smiled. "Gene, you realize you just Mega Evolved right?"

Gene lifted Belle up as the music continued. "Tell me after the dance."

And dance they did, until the music finally stopped a few minutes later, the two Mega Pokémon danced with renewed vigor, their love driving them the entire time.

Once they finally did stop, they were met, once again, with a round of thunderous applause.

"That. Was. Amazing!" Pinkie shouted.

"I must concur," Luna said, walking up to the couple with her sister and a few others. "I wasn't even aware you could do that."

Gene looked at Belle. "Neither were we," he looked down at his arms, now more blade than anything else. "I didn't even know Gallade had a Mega Form."

Everyone turned to Arceus, who shook his head. _"I was unaware as well, Mega Forms are dependant on if a Pokémon holds enough energy for one to form, and a deep emotional connection with another,"_ he smiled at Gene and Belle. _"And I don't think anyone could better personify that better than these two."_

Gene and Belle smiled at each other.

"But don't you need a Mega Stone?" Twilight asked. "And a... Keystone right?"

"_You do,"_ Arceus said. _"I gave them a Keystone and a Gardevoirite to be set in their rings, I suppose the two together awakened the hidden energy in our young Gallade here."_

At that point, apparently coming down from their emotional high, Gene and Belle both flashed white and returned to their normal forms. "Aww, I was hoping to keep those for a little while longer." He smiled slyly at Belle.

Belle blushed slightly and giggled, then noticed something. "What's that?" She asked, pointing to a dark green and red stone in his hand.

Gene held the stone up to the light to examine it. "Galladeite, I'd assume."

"_He's ri~ight!"_ Diancie called.

"Well," Celestia said, chuckling softly. "On any account, this has been a lovely wedding, but unfortunately, some of us do have prior engagements on the morrow," she gestured to Carapace, who was swaying back and forth with his eyes closed, a drunken grin on his face. "And I believe I need to get him back to his ship."

Walking over to the Changeling and guiding him with a wing to his back, Celestia turned back to Gene and Belle. "Oh, and before I forget, there's a carriage waiting for you two outside," she floated them a heart shaped piece of plastic. "I booked you two the honeymoon suite at the Canterlot Grand Hotel," she chuckled. "Have fun you two."

Gene and Belle blushed as the Princess laughed, electing laughs from several of their friends.

Remembering something, Belle smiled and teleported her bouquet into her hands. "I suppose I'm supposed to toss this, aren't I?"

Several of the females present, especially Rainbow Dash and Iris, rolled their eyes, but smiled and lined up behind Belle. From the lineup, Cresselia winked at Darkrai, and Elena smiled coyly at Nick.

Belle smiled and tossed the bouquet behind her. Not really bothering to watch where it landed as she joined her husband at the door.

In a rush for the bouquet, several of the competitors fell over each other, leaving only a few actually standing. _"Better luck next time ladies,"_ Cresselia taunted. But before the Legendary could catch the bouquet, it was intercepted by a flash of blue and white.

River landed with the bouquet in her mouth. "Mwne," she mumbled through a mouthful of flowers. Looking over to Draco, River blushed lightly and smiled.

Draco just blushed.

Gene chuckled as he led Belle out of the ballroom and out onto the cobblestone path that led to the street. He smiled when he saw the white and gold carriage waiting for them.

"I hope you didn't have anything planned for tomorrow," Gene said. "Because I think we're going to be up late tonight."

Belle smirked and kissed her husband on the cheek. "I had a feeling you'd say that," mentally, she added. _"And I hope you're ready for this,"_ she teased, sending a shiver down Gene's spine with her mind.

Back in the doorway, leaning against the frame, Mage smiled. "I'm so going to be an aunt after tonight."


	49. Chapter 46

Princess Celestia didn't know whether to smile or to sigh. The Equus World Summit had finally come to a conclusion. They had been filled with arguments, agreements, and memorable times, both good and bad.

The last meeting had just convened to a mostly unanimous final decision with the Pokémon staying.

The last laws had been signed into effect and the Pokémon were now counted as citizens of Equus.

And yet Princess Celestia felt uneasy. Golden Horn had fought hoof and horn to try and make her and the others see what he saw as reason.

She sighed. Celestia had hoped that all the leaders would be able to move on and accept the Pokémon. Yes, what Arceus had done was poorly thought out and foolhardy, yes, he should have considered the ramifications of what his actions would cause, yes, he was remarkably big headed and... where was she going with this?

The Princess shook her head. She would have to keep an eye on the Minoan Empire for a while, make sure the emperor didn't try anything.

_I have no idea how his citizens are reacting to all of this,_ For all Celestia knew, Golden Horn could be in the minority. Or he could be the voice of reason when it came to dealing with Pokémon in his country. Celestia shuddered. Now that was a scary thought.

Pulling her mind away from politics, she thought ahead to the gala that was planned for tonight. Pinkie Pie and Discord were setting everything up and not even counting however many Legendaries Arceus was bringing, the Post-Summit Gala was turning out to be bigger than the Grand Galloping Gala.

"I just hope this one ends better than the last one did." As funny as that had been, she really couldn't let this gala get ruined. "I hope those two do a good job."

Pinkie and Discord looked over the Grand Ballroom and looked at each other nervously. There were still remnants of the reception last night and for once, Pinkie was grateful the party hadn't had more attendees.

"This won't be a problem," Discord said. "I'll just poof the trash somewhere else... maybe Blueblood's bedroom."

"Dissy," Pinkie began with a frown that slowly creeped into a smile. "... send me a picture?"

Belle was slow to wake, unwilling to leave behind her dreams, but eventually she gave up on the pointless fight and slid into the waking world.

Slowly opening her eyes as the world around her came into view, she smiled as she felt Gene's arms wrapped around her and looked up to see him smiling softly back at her.

"Morning beautiful," he said softly.

Belle smiled back at him. "Morning... how long have you been up?"

Gene shrugged. "Awhile, but I don't mind," he leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead. "You look cute when you're asleep."

Belle smiled and snuggled closer to Gene. "So," she said. "We finally did it."

Gene nodded. "We did, we're finally married," he smiled and ran his hand along Belle's back. "You're my wife."

"You're my husband," Belle said with a smile.

The two were silent for a moment. "I don't... feel all that different," Gene admitted. "Aside from what you did last night, at least."

Belle smiled, since Gene was a Psychic-type now, they had finally been able to complete their mental link. Without even trying, she could feel her love's emotions, and he could feel hers.

Belle grinned as the memories of last night came back to her. Particularly of when they had completed the link and the emotional high had boosted them into their Mega forms for a while, that had been... fun.

"Well," Belle began. "Why don't we just... talk? There are a few things we still need to discuss."

"Ah yes," Gene said. "How are you feeling anyway? Any cravings?"

Belle smiled. "I'm fine, and not yet."

Gene smiled. "That's good... is it wrong for me to be nervous about this?" He asked.

"I think all new parents feel that way Gene," Belle replied. "It's nature's way of telling us there's always something you can never fully prepare for."

Gene looked down at his wife. "How do you feel about all this?"

"Scared that I'll mess something up," Belle said. "Mostly that I'll push myself too hard and hurt our Egg, I've never been good at restraining myself."

"That's why you have me," Gene said, giving Belle a quick squeeze. "I'll always be around to make sure you... you two, are safe."

Belle smiled and pushed herself upright. "And how are you feeling?"

"Nervous," Gene said.

"I can feel that," Belle replied. "I mean specifically."

"... afraid. Afraid that I'll mess something up, that I won't be able to take care of you two, or protect you, afraid that I won't be a good role model for our child." Gene shook his head. "I... I just want to be a good dad but... I just have no idea how."

As little as Gene talked about his mother, he talked about his father even less. It wasn't because of any strained relationship, and he hadn't abandoned Gene before he was born. Gene's dad had been a shipmate on the S.S Cactus, the ship that had sunk off the Hoenn coast. He had been one of the unfortunate souls who didn't make it out.

Belle scooted over to Gene and wrapped her arms around him. "Gene," she began. "You took care of me when I was little, Fang when he was a pup, and River when she was just a baby." Belle smiled. "And despite the fact that one of them had a tendency to chew up your shoes, and the other continued to wrap around your neck like a scarf _after_ she evolved, you never yelled."

"Well yeah but-" Belle silenced her husband with a kiss before continuing.

"You are kind, gentle, caring, and I'm lucky to have you as my mate," Belle said. "You will make an absolutely wonderful father, and an even better role model, because that, my love, is just who you are."

Gene smiled softly. "You really think so?"

"I know so," Belle said with finality.

Gene leaned forward and kissed Belle. "Thanks Belle, I needed that... and for the record, I know you'll make a great mother."

Belle smiled and lied back down in Gene's arms. "That so?" She asked.

"Mhm," Gene replied. "You want to know why I'm sure?"

"My curiosity is peaked," Belle answered.

Gene smiled. "I know because you're so understanding and patient," he said. "And you're always willing to talk, and to give advice," he kissed her once before continuing. "But mostly, because you, my dear are a truly wonderful being," he pulled Belle closer to him. "And I honestly can't see you being anything short of a wonderful mother."

"Oh Gene," Belle said, resting her head on Gene's shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, Belle spoke again. "You know, we could start thinking of names."

Gene didn't say anything for a second. "I still like Melody."

* * *

Celestia smiled as she trotted into her room and saw Ninetales curled up on her bed. The Princess chuckled as she stepped walked past her bed and over to her dresser. She her tiara and hooflets and was about to lie down on her bed when she felt something warm nuzzle up against her.

"Hi Tia!" Ninetales chirped happily. "How was your day?"

Celestia smiled and chuckled. "Same as the last few," she said with a sigh. "I'm glad the political dealings are over with though," Celestia lied down on her bed and stretched out. "It'll be nice not to have to sit through the meeting anymore, though it was nice to see everyone again," she sighed and amended. "Well, most everyone at least."

Ninetales jumped up onto the bed and curled up next to Celestia, resting her head on Celestia side.

The Princess smiled and wrapped a hoof around the Pokémon. "Ninetales?" Celestia asked. "I'm curious, why did you decide to stay with me?"

The firefox giggled. "Because you're really nice, and you kind of saved my skin when we first met," she sighed and added. "Literally."

Celestia frowned. "Surely that's not all." The Princess knew that Pokémon were normally very friendly but...

"Well," Ninetales said guiltily. "It may have had something to do with you being immortal, and me not wanting to lose my friend."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "How long do you live?"

"Ninetales can live for a thousand years," the Fire type informed. "My mother was over two hundred when she had me."

Celestia chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Yeah... you're not mad at me are you?"

Celestia smiled down at Ninetales. "Not at all. I seem to have a knack for attracting immortals... or at least long lived beings."

Several of Ninetales' tails wagged happily. "Tia... thanks for letting me stay with you... and thanks for being my friend."

Celestia smiled and wrapped her hooves around the Pokémon, pulling her into a hug. "You don't need to thank me, I like having you around," she chuckled. "You're soft and snuggly."

Ninetales giggled and licked Celestia up the face, electing a laugh from the Princess. "Thank you." Ninetales said.

"You're welcome," Celestia said with a chuckle, looking at her clock, she sighed. "I'll need to be at the Gala soon... would you like to come with?"

"Sure," Ninetales chirped. "I've never been to a party before, it sounds like fun!"

* * *

Celestia looked out over the crowd of ponies, Pokémon, and various other species at the gala. "There are a lot of Legendaries here," Cadence said. "How many are there anyway?"

"I think around fifty something," Celestia replied, her eyes were drawn to a large yellow bird Arceus had introduced as Zapdos, he was currently conversing with several Griffin guards.

"And how many are here?" Cadence asked.

"At least... twenty? I kinda lost track," Celestia admitted. At the very least, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves... sort of... a fair number of ponies were still skittish around the Pokémon, especially ones such as Raikou.

"Have you seen Luna?" Cadence asked. "She said she wanted to introduce me to someone."

"That's a coincidence," Celestia said. "She said she was going to introduce me to her student tonight." Celestia smiled. "I'm quite looking forward to meeting him."

"Well then, I won't keep you waiting any longer," Luna said, creeping up behind her sister and niece. "Celestia, Cadence," the two turned around to see Luna standing next to a black and red Pokémon with a white flowing mane. "I believe you remember Darkrai from the wedding correct?"

Celestia blinked twice as she processed the current situation. "Luna... you've been teaching a Pokémon about dream magic?" She asked out of curiosity.

Luna nodded. "He had the power, but not the structure to control it."

"_Princess Luna has been a great help in helping me gain control of my powers,"_ Darkrai said. _"I owe her a lot."_

Celestia couldn't help but smile, it looked like her little sister was really coming into her own. "Well, I'm glad to hear Luna's been able to help you Darkrai," Celestia said.

"_As am I,"_ Darkrai said, sighing blissfully. _"It is liberating to be in full control of my powers at last."_

"We still have a ways to go before he is on par with me," Luna smiled. "But he's getting there, and recently his girlfriend has joined us in our training sessions."

"_It has been... enjoyable to work with Cresselia."_

"Oh that's right," Cadence said. "I saw you two dancing at Gene and Belle's wedding."

Darkrai blushed softly.

"Don't be embarrassed," Cadence said. "You make a cute couple."

Darkrai smiled softly. _"Thank you, Princess Cadence,"_ he said. _"Would you like to come meet her? I'm certain you two would get along quite well."_

Cadence smiled. "I'd be delighted to."

* * *

Just outside the gala, standing on a patio of sorts, Draco watched the stars.

The Flygon had long since memorized the stars to help him navigate. Of course, now he had to do it again, and the stars of Equus seemed more... alive, than the ones back on Earth.

Draco had several things on the front of his mind as he watched the sky, well, one in particular.

"Draco?" The Flygon turned his head to see River slithering towards him. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

Draco smiled and turned back towards the sky. "Just thinking."

"Ok," River slithered up beside Draco. "What'cha thinkin' bout?"

Draco chuckled softly and smiled. "Nothing really specific. I've been letting my mind wander." He turned to her and blinked in surprise, then smiled. "I like your little accessory."

River blushed and glanced up at the white flower tucked behind her horn. "Thanks... it was Rarity's idea."

"Well, I think it looks cute," Draco said. "Especially on you."

The Dragonair looked away, a smile on her now crimson face. "Th-thank you."

Draco shook his head and chuckled. "River," he said, turning her head back towards him and smiling. "You have no reason to be embarrassed whenever I compliment you."

River smiled softly and wrapped her coils around Draco. A light blush lit up his face and River giggled as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Then you have no reason to be embarrassed when I do this."

"Big difference between a compliment and this," Draco said.

"Not for me," River chirped, tightening her hold on him. "This is just how I hug."

Draco chuckled and nuzzled River's head with his own. "You're a special kind of sweet my dear. I hope you never lose that."

"Don't worry," River reached forward and gave Draco a peck on the cheek. "I won't."

Draco blushed, River laughed, it was a normal night for the pair.

* * *

Pinkie Pie was watching the dessert table. This really wasn't anything new, sometimes Pinkie liked to systematically pick out what she was going to eat first. This time, however, she was watching it for a different reason.

One of the cupcakes had moved.

She didn't know how it had happened, but she knew it had moved. Now she was waiting for it to happen again.

"Pinkie Pie?" Zap asked, poking his head out of her mane. "Why are you staring at the dessert table?"

"Shhh," she scolded. "I'm waiting for the cupcakes to move."

Zap blinked twice. "Any... particular reason for that? Or is it just something you decided to do?"

Pinkie nodded, said nothing, and went back to watching the dessert. Zap shrugged and jumped onto Pinkie's head, spinning slowly like a top as he watched the pastries.

It wasn't much longer when Pinkie saw one of the cupcakes rise slightly off the table of its own accord, and began making its way off the table.

"AHA!" Pinkie grabbed the cupcake off the table and revealed a tiny yellow Joltik sitting on the table, holding a butter knife.

"Aww, so cute!" Pinkie exclaimed, picking up the Joltik.

"I am not cute!" Volt roared. "I am Volt! Master of Excalibur! Pilferer of pastries! And you stole my cupcake!"

Pinkie giggled and set Volt, along with the cupcake, back on the table. "There ya go."

Volt eyed Pinkie curiously, then pounced and devoured the cupcake. Once he was finished, his face coated in frosting, he smiled up at Pinkie. "Thanks, John says I'm not allowed to have sugar."

Pinkie gasped. "That's terrible! Sugar is like the fourth best thing in the world."

"What are the other three?" Zap asked.

"Family, friends, and chimicherrychangas," Pinkie said.

Zap rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Anyway," the Rotom said, jolting down to the Bug type. "This is Pinkie Pie, and I'm Zap." Zap held out one of his arms for Volt to shake.

Volt smiled and reached to shake the electrical appendage, but as soon as Volt can in contact with Zap, his hair poofed up and his eyes started to glow blue.

Volt then gapst, before lifting his butterknife into the air. "I HAVE THE POWERAAAAAA!"

Pinkie giggled. "You look like a marshmallow."

"I DEMAND SUGAR!" Volt jumped onto a plate of cookies and began devouring them as well.

"A 'mon after my own heart~" Pinkie swooned falsely, electing a laugh from Zap.

"Really though," Zap watched as the Joltik began devouring yet another cookie. "I don't know if it's good for him to eat that much. What if he-"

"-CHAOS!" Discord shouted as he popped into existence, startling Pinkie and Zap and causing Volt to stare at the Draconequus wide eyed.

"_This doesn't seem that chaotic,"_ Hoopa said, floating up behind Discord. _"It's just Pinkie and a very fluffy Joltik."_

"Hi Discord, hi Hoopa!" Pinkie said with a smile. "This is Volt!"

"Less talking!" Volt yelled out, stabbing his butter knife into the table. "More cookies!" He then took a bite out of a chocolate chip cookie, then proceeded to laugh maniacally.

Discord smiled. "I knew I smelled chaos in the making!" He picked up Volt, then used his free arm to pull Pinkie and Zap to him, and his other free arm to pull Hoopa to him. "And it's the five of us!"

Across the ballroom, Arceus felt a very sudden shift in reality. He forced the levels back to normal, but shook his head. For a second there, it had been as if _reality itself_ was attempting to run away.

* * *

Emperor Golden Horn was not having a good time at the gala. He watched the rest of the attendees having fun, chatting, drinking, and he sat at one of the tables with his arms crossed.

The Minotaur was still upset with the outcome of the meetings, and having all these Legendaries around did little to better his mood.

He knew that the other leaders saw him as thick-headed, but he was just worried for his people. "Is it so wrong that I fear for the safety of my citizens?" He asked aloud.

"_I don't think so,"_ an elder voice said from beside Golden Horn. The Minotaur turned to see a blue and tan deer like creature standing beside him. _"A ruler should fear for the safety of his people as much as his own."_

Golden Horn snorted. "It was rhetorical."

"_I know,"_ Cobalion said. _"But I needed to speak with you, and this seemed like a good way to break the ice."_

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood to talk anymore," Golden Horn said. "No one seems to listen to me anyways."

Cobalion shook his head. _"I always listen."_

Golden Horn raised an eyebrow. "Who are you anyway?"

"_Cobalion,"_ the Steel type introduced himself. _"Leader of the Swords of Justice."_

Golden Horn snorted again. "And why would you want to listen to what I have to say?"

"_I don't really,"_ Cobalion admitted. _"But I would like to understand why you are so against the Pokémon, the other rulers have had problems in their countries as well, and yet you're so much more against us than the others."_

Golden Horn shook his head. "You want to know why?" He asked. "Fine. The strong rule the weak, that's just how things have always been, and in this time of peace, the others seem to have forgotten that," the Minotaur sighed. "But I cannot, I gained the title of Emperor after I defeated the last one in battle," he sighed again. "I was the strongest, and I tried to be a better ruler than him."

"And now you Pokémon in all your 'great power'," Golden Horn snorted. "Come along and I just KNOW that it will only be a matter of time before you try to crush me," he shook his head, his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. "But I won't let you, I won't let you gain a foot in my country because I know what you're doing."

Cobalion sighed. _"You base these presumptions off of how you perceive the other beings of Equus and how they act,"_ the Sword of Justice shook his head. _"Pokémon do not necessarily function the same way. Take me for example,"_ Cobalion stepped in front of Golden Horn and continued. _"I am the leader of the Swords of Justice, a team of Pokémon dedicated to helping those who are unable to help themselves."_

"What are you? Arceus' knights?" Golden Horn asked.

Cobalion smiled softly. _"Perhaps,"_ he said quietly. _"But we've saved many in our quest, and even though we were not always successful, we did all we could to help others."_

"Your point?" Golden Horn asked curtly.

Cobalion glared at the stubborn Emperor. _"My point is that Pokémon are not necessarily driven by what you THINK other citizens of Equus are. Many help those weaker than them, and many will simply look out for themselves and their families, very few will actively seek to force those weaker than them under their control."_

"That's what you all keep saying."

"_Because it is true,"_ Cobalion said with surety. _"Whether or not you chose to believe it."_ Having had enough of talking with the Minotaur, Cobalion turned around and said. _"Think on these things, and consider the options laid out before you."_ Before walking off, leaving Golden Horn alone and mildly confused.

* * *

Lia was normally a rather social kind of girl. She loved to meet new people and make new friends. Gard would always tell her she's being to peppy and annoying, but she just thought he was a bit of a grump now and again. 'He should really get out more...Maybe he could help me with my cheers.' She giggled as she imagined Gard wearing a cheerleader's outfit.

But that wasn't important right now. No, she was nervous. Really nervous about meeting someone and that wasn't normal for her. One may wonder why, but it was a very simple thing: She had a question...Well, a few questions. Lia was lucky her big brother wasn't around, or said questions would have set him off.

Lia quickly spied the 'mon she wanted to ask. Yet, she felt afraid. 'What if she thinks I'm stupid for asking?' She had to calm herself. She needed answers and she was going to get them from an expert. Someone like her, instead of her more zany friends.

Her target: Belle.

"You can do this," Lia said to ease her ever beating heart. She did her best to keep herself small and hidden until she came up behind her. She gulped and tugged on her dress. "Um...Miss Belle.."

Belle turned around and, upon seeing Lia, smiled. "Well hello there," she greeted. "You're... Lia, right?"

Lia nodded. "Yes, Miss Belle." She shyly fiddled with her hands. Her words had caught in her mouth.

"You can just call me Belle," she said with a light chuckle. "Did you want something?"

"Well…" Lia gulped, steeling her nerves. "I...I wanted to talk to you, M..Belle."

"Oh?" Belle asked. "What about?"

"Umm…" Lia fidgeted even more, blushing. "Well….You see, I'm kind of...I wanted...to ask you about something. Something my big brother doesn't let me do and...I don't have anyone else to talk to about it. There aren't any Gardevoirs... any female Gardevoirs anyways I know. I just figured...You're like the prettiest and most awesome Gardevoir I've heard of. Surely you could help me."

"Aww, thank you," Belle said with a smile. "And of course I'll help you, what do you need?"

"Love…" Lia blurted out. "I'm kind of a romantic. So, I've always wanted to meet my soul-mate, like in a fairy tale, but I don't know how to find him...and my big brother doesn't like any guy near me...at least with that intention."

"Well," Belle began. "I met Gene when I was just a Ralts, and at the time I never thought I'd end up falling in love with him," Belle smiled softly and looked back towards her husband, who was talking with Cynthia and Iris. "But... love has a funny way of sneaking up on you." Belle turned back to Lia and continued. "Lia, you seem like a smart young girl, and while this might not make sense, I swear to Arceus it's true. When you find your soul-mate you just... know, I don't know how to describe it, but you do."

"Like love at first sight?" Lia asked, cutely tilting her head to the side. "That sort of thing?"

"Pretty much," Belle said. "You'll feel something in your heart when your with them, like a piece of you that you never knew was missing was there, and... I know this all sounds cheesy but... you'll want to be around them as much as possible, you'll count the minutes you're apart and..." Belle stopped. "Sorry, I guess I'm not doing too good a job at explaining huh?"

"No," Lia shook her head. "You're doing a great job, Miss...I mean, Belle. I mean, you're the love expert here. I'm just a silly little Kirlia." She messed with her dress awkwardly. "I didn't mean to be a bother."

"It's no trouble, really," Belle said.

Lia spared a glance at Gene. "Why a human though?..." Lia put her hands to her mouth. "I didn't mean to sound like a big meanie, I'm just curious. I mean, my mommy's a human and she's the best mommy ever."

Belle sighed. "Don't worry... I'm use to it," looking back at Gene, she smiled. "I don't know why honestly, before we actually got together I use to wish he had been born a Pokémon but... honestly I don't care what he is, he's the most caring, loving mate I could have ever asked for. And after we got together... it didn't matter anymore, he broke the law and put his own freedom at risk time and time again just to be with me... I don't think I could have found anyone more devoted than him."

Lia sighed dreamily. "What a guy. I hope I find someone like him, though my big brother still wouldn't like them."

"Well Lia, and I think I'm probably the best suited to say this, don't let anything stand in the way of love," Belle sighed and thought back to the time she had spent hiding her feelings for Gene. "It'll only make you hurt inside."

Lia looked nervously to her chest and patted it. "That doesn't sound good."

Belle laughed quietly. "It's not, so when you find your soul-mate, when you find that special someone whom you can't imagine not living the rest of your life with, promise me you won't let anything stand in your way."

Lia stood at attention and saluted. "I won't, Belle." She smiled brightly. "I'll stick with him, just like you and Mister Gene."

Belle laughed again. "Good girl," she said with a smile. "Now is there anything else you needed?"

"Not really…" Lia said. "But maybe a couple things, actually. Not very big things of course."

"Well don't be shy," Belle said with a smile. "Just ask me."

"Before we go," Lia said. "Maybe we could go out together tomorrow or something? I don't...have really any friends here and it's kind of been lonely. I have my big brother, but…." She sniffled. "He's been kind of down...and a bit meaner. He's just stressed is all. He doesn't mean it."

Belle smiled and nodded. "It's alright... and I'm free for lunch tomorrow."

"Thank you," Lia hugged her, squealing in joy.

Belle smiled and returned the hug. "My pleasure."

"And…" Lia started. "If I ever do get married, maybe you could come. It's going to be awesome!"

Belle laughed again. "I think I'd like that, and I know Gene would too."

"Yay~" Lia cheered. The hug ended and she sent Belle an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for not coming to your wedding...but no one told us." She pouted and crossed her arms. "They said they didn't want my big brother coming. That's stupid. He's great with...most crowds...most of the time...Well, he wouldn't turn you blue or anything like that."

"Oh... sorry," Belle said apologetically.

"No problem," Lia perked up. "Thanks for listening to me, Belle. I hope I'm as pretty and great as you when I grow up."

Belle smiled. "I'm sure you will be."

"Well," Lia said. "I think that's it." She got up to her and waved. "Bye Belle," she looked down at her belly. "Bye egg that hasn't hatched, but you're going to hatch someday and get a name, but I don't know it yet, so I'll just call you 'egg'."

Belle watched as Lia walked away, then looked down at her belly. "How did she..." the Gardevoir shook her head and laughed. "Such a sweet girl."

* * *

Prince Blueblood sat in a hospital bed, hooves crossed and a scowl on his face. _"Stupid Pokémon."_ He was currently bedridden with several toxins being pumped from his system, and was once again mute. _"Stupid Arceus, stupid... whoever they were."_ Blueblood hadn't actually learned the name of that bladed... thing.

"_Honestly, where do they get off thinking they can treat me like this?"_ He asked himself. _"I'm a Prince, they're all just simple beasts,"_ Blueblood sighed and closed his eyes. _"They think they can just do whatever they want because they're ruler is a 'God'?"_ He scoffed. _"They need to be put in their proper place... nothing more than animals... how to do it?"_

Blueblood found himself slowly drifting into sleep. _"How to do it? Prove they're just... monsters... but... how?"_ Not to mention, the fact that his aunts, the princesses, were supportive of the beasts...he just couldn't understand why.

With one last sigh, Blueblood turned on his side. _"How?"_


	50. Chapter 47

Celestia groaned as her headache spiked. Reaching up with her hoof, she rubbed her forehead and the pain started to fade somewhat. Before her was a plethora of guards, not to mention maids, who all stared at their Princess.

"Just…" Celestia started. "Go clean the mess they made…" She groaned.

"Yes Princess!" They all stated before wandering off in many different directions.

Celestia's head continued to hurt as the many guards and maids left the Throne Room and went off to clean the mess that was made by the fearsome four… an evil team made up of Discord, Pinkie Pie, Hoopa and the small but equally crazy Volt.

The four had… destroyed a kitchen, by making a cake explode. Made a large mess by having a food fight in the staff cafeteria. Had scattered confetti and other party accessories throughout the castle, making it look like a massive party bomb went off. And… most of the Castle's supply of flour had mysteriously vanished. It was, all and all, more stressful than part of the meetings that she went through throughout the week. It would not have bothered her this much, if Golden Horn was not hit by a large glob of cake…

And thus, Celestia had a headache.

The only down side really, was that all those involved with the incident vanished. Pinkie wasn't in much trouble, because she really only fired off her Party Cannon, and didn't mean to destroy anything. Discord, whom Celestia had planned to make clean up the mess, had vanished. Volt was too small to really help clean up, then John offered to help clean the mess the Volt had made, but seeing as Celestia did not want to punish him for what Volt did… Hoopa… well Celestia had to say she looked surprisingly good in a maids outfit, courtesy of Arceus.

"Look on the bright side, sister," Luna started. "The world leaders are gone, Pokémon are accepted... for most part at least, and once this is cleaned up, we won't really have to worry about anything for a bit. Right?"

"I hope you're right Luna," Celestia said. "After all of this... it's times like this I wish I could take a vacation."

"Princess Celestia," A guard started, approaching the two. "We found another room that was hit by the four party monsters. This one seems to be filled with pudding." Celestia let out a low groan.

* * *

Twilight smiled as she stepped off the train car and was met with the familiar sight of Ponyville sprawled out before her. It had been... interesting, being part of the World Summit, but she was just happy to be home. After seeing both new and old faces, all she wanted was to relax in her own home, and get to studying!

"Well, if any of ya'll need me," Applejack said, as she stepped off the train. "Ya know where ta find me, I think it's 'bout time I get back ta work."

"And I am sure that Angel Bunny misses me. Not to mention all my other Pokémon and animal friends," Fluttershy said with a smile. "Oh, I can't wait to see all their cute faces."

"Yes well, I too must return to my work," Rarity said. "While I do so enjoy our visits to Canterlot, I do have a business to run."

Stepping off the Train, Gene turned to Rarity. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do to repay you for our outfits?" He asked for what was probably the hundredth time.

"Gene dear, you're my friends. I do not mind making an outfit for my friends every now and again simply out of the goodness of my heart," Rarity smiled. _And Arceus already payed for it... with interest._

Gene sighed but let the subject drop, instead swearing internally to repay Rarity for all her help.

Behind Gene and Belle, the members of ShadowFox construction exited the train. "Cute little town," X said to himself.

One by one the rest of the group trickled out of the train and off to do whatever they wanted to get done. Rainbow Dash hand some practising to do, while Pinkie Pie went off to give the cakes a big hug and tell them about her time in Canterlot. Gene and Belle led X and his group off to find a good place for their house, and to begin planning.

Soon, this left Twilight and Juniper walking back to the library. "So I was going to start testing those Evolution Stones to try and understand how they work," Twilight told the Professor. "I know that some of them can be volatile, so... do you have any tips so I don't accidently blow myself up?"

Juniper chuckled. "So long as you don't hit it with a hammer you should be fine, and it's only really the Fire, Dawn, and Thunder Stones you have to be careful of since they can actually cause harm when they break. The rest just require clean up."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Well... Dusk Stones sort of cover the area in soot, or something like it...some people say its some kind of solid shadow, and Water Stones somehow release a small deluge."

Twilight blinked once, then shook her head. "Well, not the weirdest thing I've heard recently."

While they walked, the pair began to notice more Pokémon around town than there had been when they had left.

A mail pony flew by overhead, followed by a Pelipper, and Twilight was shocked to see Daisy and Lily working in the garden outside their flower shop alongside a Roselia.

"Wow," Twilight said to herself. "I'm not sure if it's because they didn't just disappear after a few days or what, but everypony seems to have really come around."

Juniper smiled. "Well that's good..." she chuckled. "Probably since it's a small town and not a big city like Canterlot."

Twilight nodded. "I guess that makes sense, I'm just glad no one's freaking out anymore."

"Twilight!"

Twilight turned to see Cheerilee running towards her. "I spoke too soon didn't I?"

"Twilight, I have a problem," Cheerilee said. "I can't find Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, or Apple Bloom anywhere, and they didn't show up for class either."

Twilight groaned. "What did those three get themselves into this time?"

"I don't know, but they've all been talking about becoming Pokémon Trainers... you think that has something to do with it?"

"Almost certainly," Twilight said with a sigh. "I'll get Rainbow Dash, and we should probably tell Applejack and Rarity."

"I'll head to Sweet Apple Acres," Cheerilee volunteered.

"I can head over to Rarity's," Juniper offered.

Twilight nodded. "Alright, let's spread out, cover the town, and hope they didn't get into too much trouble."

* * *

The Dragonlands were not the most pleasant place in all of Equus. Most of the inland was rocky and littered with caves and canyons, inside anyone of which a large fire breathing creature might be waiting. The coastline was much more inviting, seeing as how most dragons preferred lava to water, the only thing one would be likely to run into there was a group of adolescent Dragons or two who didn't want to deal with the adults further inland.

Another thing that surprised many about the Dragonlands was its size, the remote island was only about half the size of Equestria, though the Dragons made up for this by digging into the bedrock to make their caves.

The grey and red Charizard who flew over the land in search of any Pokémon he could spot didn't know any of this.

"I was hoping I could find Char here," Red said. "Now I'm worried there might not be any Pokémon here at all... anymore."

Red had spent the last two weeks, aside from a few days, searching for his Pokémon around Equestria. So far he had found Pika, Vee, and Saur, but none of the others.

When he came here hoping to find his Charizard, he was worried that he wasn't going to be able to find him. Now he was worried for a whole different reason. "Maybe Arceus had enough foresight to not drop any Pokémon here," Red said to himself hopefully.

While the Champion was thinking, he failed to notice the shadow that was beginning to blot out the sun. "Did it get darker all of a sudden?"

Red looked up and saw a rather large blue dragon flying above him, and looking down at him.

"Please let me have been wrong," he said silently.

The Dragon roared at Red and swooped down towards him. "Aw crap!" Red flattened his wings and fell into a dive in an attempt to escape the Dragon.

Red looked back to see the Blue dragon slowly falling behind him, sighing in relief, he turned his attention forward, just as a ball of flame shot from behind him. "Ah!"

Red managed to stop himself short of the inferno, which unfortunately allowed the Dragon to close the distance between itself and Red. Red turned and watched as the creature closed in on him. _Maybe if I time this just right,_ he thought. _Three... two..._

"_HYPER BEAM!"_

Red stopped his count down as a beam of energy intersected the Dragon, forcing it to the ground... and further into the ground... and further...

After a good thirty seconds the attack finally stopped, leaving the Dragon unconscious in a thirty foot crater.

"_Are you alright young one?"_ Red turned to see none other than Arceus himself floating before him.

Red sighed. "Yeah... thanks for the save."

Arceus nodded and looked at the Dragon he had just attacked. _"I'm afraid these ruffians haven't been as accepting as the other races. After an... incident, on day one, I moved my Pokémon out of here,"_ he turned to Red. _"Which is why I'm here now... to ask why you're here."_

"I was looking for a friend," Red said. "And can I ask what happened here?"

Arceus shifted on his hooves. _"Suffice to say it involved a Dragon violent by even the measures of his own race, and me using Judgement. After that, I didn't want to take any chances."_

Red nodded. "Makes sense... so there are no Pokémon here?"

Arceus sighed. _"Even moved the more reluctant Dragon and Ghost types. Took me a few hours, and I even had to blast a few Dragons who didn't take kindly to me messing with the 'world order' or something. They didn't seem like the most... reasonable Dragons anyway though."_

Red smirked and crossed his arms. "They kind of have a point you know."

Arceus rolled his eyes. _"Yes, yes, I should have planned ahead, or at least made a plan besides 'bring Pokémon to Equus', every ruler on the planet made that point abundantly clear."_

Red chuckled. "Sorry," he looked around the desolate landscape. "So... could you take me back to Equestria? Or maybe point me towards the rest of my Pokémon?"

Arceus smiled. _"Of course, I can make you a map back at the Temple,"_ Arceus opened a portal to the Temple in front of them._"I think it's about time you visited anyways, don't you Red?"_

The Kanto Champion blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Well, if I'm invited."

* * *

"I just can't believe this," Rainbow Dash said. "How is it that _no ones_ managed to find them yet?!"

"Maybe they're trying for their hide 'n seek cutie marks," Pinkie Pie offered.

Rainbow put her head in her hooves and groaned. "What if they got eaten or something?" She asked.

"Rainbow Dash, stop being so pessimistic," Twilight ordered. "The girls probably just lost track of time training their Pokémon, and since we told them they couldn't do that near town, it makes sense that we couldn't find them."

"Alright," the Pegasus conceded. "But why are we in Whitetail Woods?"

Twilight sighed. "Because, aside from the Everfree, this is the one place the girls might go to train that we haven't checked yet."

"I'm just glad they DIDN'T go into the Everfree for once," Rarity sighed, shaking her head at how often those three had gone into the forest even when they knew how dangerous it was, and she didn't count the times they went to visit Zecora. She was just glad one of the Legendaries, Shaymin, had been at the outskirts of the forest at the time, and had been able to confirm that they weren't in the Everfree.

"I just hope we don't run into anything too frightening," Fluttershy added. "I heard that some ponies have been seeing large groups of Pokémon out here."

"Define what you mean by frightening," Dash deadpanned. "Because we've been hanging out with Ghosts, walking guillotines, giant bugs, walking swords, and fire breathing everythings for the past two weeks."

Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and continued on ahead.

The group continued walking for a while, occasionally talking with each other, mostly about when they would find the CMC's.

"Girls," Twilight said, stopping. "Do you hear something?"

They all stopped and strained their ears. "I think so," Applejack said. "It sounds like them alright," she said with a sigh.

"Thank goodness," Rarity said, trotting ahead. "I was starting to get worried."

"Wait up Rares," Rainbow called. "You don't wanna get too far ahead."

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called, ignoring her friend. "Just what were you thinking? Coming out here and-Yah!"

Rarity ran back into the clearing and hid behind Twilight. "Th-there's something there."

Before Twilight could ask what she meant, a brown furred, elephantine Pokémon lumbered into the clearing. It had a pig-like nose and a pair of white tusks set below a blue and white mask.

"What're you doin' 'ere?" The Mamoswine asked.

Twilight stepped forward. "We're looking for our friends, three fillies, call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders... have you seen them mister?"

"Just call me Mamoswine," he said. "And yeah, yer friends 'ave been with the Professor all day."

"Thanks goodness," Rarity said. "Could you take us to them?"

The Ice type snorted. "Wait 'ere, I'll be back in a jiffy."

The mares watched as Mamoswine lumbered back the way it had came. "Well, ah'm glad we found them at least," Applejack said.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle cried, rushing into the clearing with Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and their Pokémon. "You're back from Canterlot!"

Rarity smiled. "Yes... and we just spent the past few hours looking for you."

"Oh..." Sweetie's ears flattened against her head. "Uh... oops?"

"Why did you three run off like this?" Twilight asked. "I mean, you not only skipped school, you didn't tell anyone where you were going!"

"To be fair," Scootaloo said. "We've been learning from the Professor all day."

"Well, if this 'Professor' thinks they can just take three young fillies out of school without even informing their parents, then I think we need to have a word with him," Rarity said.

"Terribly sorry miss," an elder voice said. "I had no idea I was keeping these girls from their classes." An elderly Alakazam walked into the clearing, he held his hands held behind his back and, to the confusion of the ponies, he was wearing a lab coat. "And I assumed that they informed their parents where they were."

The Crusaders dropped their heads guiltily.

"I guess I just got caught up in imparting my knowledge onto them to really think clearly."

Twilight smiled, she didn't know why, but she had a feeling she was going to like this guy. "It's alright, this kind of thing happens a lot with them actually," she held out her hoof. "Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy."

The Alakazam shook he hoof with his paw. "Professor Samuel Oak, pleased to meet you Twilight."

Twilight blinked once, then smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you Professor, a friend of my has told me all about your research."

Oak looked at her in curiosity, then smiled. "Well, nice to know someone's been spreading it around," he said with a laugh.

"Uh, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Ya mind fillin' us in here?"

"Oh... girls, this is Samuel Oak, Pokémon Professor of the Kanto Region, Juniper told me about him and his work."

"Juniper..." the Professor began. "You wouldn't mean Aurea Juniper by any chance would you?"

Twilight nodded.

"Wonderful!" He clapped his hand together. "I just have to go and meet with her... though... I suppose by now the others will be starting to worry..." Oak looked back the way he had came and sighed. "Could you come back here this time tomorrow?" He asked. "I don't want the others to worry if I'm not back, and I should tell them that I'm having guests over."

Twilight thought for a second, then nodded. "Sure, I'll just bring Juniper with me."

Oak smiled and nodded. "Thank you Twilight, I look forward to our next meeting. Come along Mamoswine, we must be getting back."

As the two Pokémon left the clearing, all eyes turned to the CMC's.

"To be fair," Apple Bloom said. "We really were learning all day."

"That's nice," Applejack said. "Ya'll are still in trouble for cuttin' class."

"AWW!"

* * *

Applejack sighed and shook her head as she walked through Sweet Apple Acres. The farm mare had never liked punishing her little sister but sometimes...

She sighed again, Apple Bloom was, to the filly's displeasure, grounded for the next few days, which included no Crusading or Pokémon training, though she couldn't separate her sister and Bulbasaur, seeing as how tying the Pokémon up outside wouldn't be the same as tying up a dog.

Applejack pushed it from her mind and focused on the task at hoof.

She was on her way to check in on the Bee Pokémon hive that Vespiquen was setting up, since it'd been a while since they last checked in on them and the mare wanted to know how things were going.

Entering the part of the property where the orchard came closest to the Everfree, Applejack began to look around. She saw several Beedrill and Combee flitting about, as well as a few trees ladened with Kakuna and Weedle.

"Howdy ya'll," she greeted. "Don't suppose any of ya could point me ta Vespiquen?"

A few of the Beedrills pointed out a direction and Applejack nodded. "Thank ya kindly." Heading the way the Bug types had pointed out, Applejack continued to assess how this part of the orchard was turning out.

Over all, she wasn't too worried, the proximity of these trees to the Everfree had meant they had a low yield anyway, and the apples that came from them didn't taste as good as the ones from other parts of the orchard, which Applejack assumed was why Big Mac had let them have this part of the orchard to begin with.

It didn't take Applejack long to find her destination, then again, it's hard to miss a ten foot tall beehive that took up a good portion of a moderately sized clearing.

"Well, now ain't that somethin'," Applejack said to herself as she approached the structure. "Vespiquen?! I'm here ta check in on ya!"

A moment later, Vespiquen flew out of the hive, exiting through an opening at the front that Applejack assumed was a doorway in one form or another.

"Miss Applejack," the Bug type greeted with a nod. "How thoughtful of you to drop check in on us." She gestured back to the hive. "As you can see, we have nearly completed the building process."

"Ah can," Applejack said with a nod. "Ya'll work pretty quickly don't ya?"

"We do what we can," Vespiquen said with a nod.

"Well how long do ya think it'll be before we can get some honey?" Applejack asked.

"Not long," Vespiquen said. "Most of my hive has found its way back to me, as well as a few who were separated from their own."

"Well that's good," Applejack said with a nod. "Ah'm glad you're family's found its way back to ya."

Vespiquen tensed up. "They're... not all my family."

"Oh, ah'm sorry," Applejack apologized. "Did ah touch a nerve?"

Vespiquen sighed. "Apologies miss Applejack, the matter is something of my own." The Bug type turned away. "You need not trouble yourself with it."

"It's not that ah need to," Applejack said. "It's that ya'll seem a might upset, and ah'm wonderin' why."

Vespiquen sighed. "It is... I have five children, four sons, all of whom have found their way back to me, and one daughter... who I cannot find."

Applejack's ears flicked back. "Ah'm sorry," she said.

Vespiquen sighed. "What do you know about my kind miss Applejack?"

"Not much," Applejack admitted. "Less than ah thought ah did seein' as how you're not the same as bees from here."

"Allow me to enlighten you a bit," Vespiquen grabbed Applejack and, before the pony could protest, flew her into the hive. "Most Vespiquen form a small hive made mostly of their male children and a few dozen Combees who serve as servants to the queen, or workers."

Setting Applejack down inside the hive, the Earth Pony looked around at the twenty or so Combee, and five or so Beedrill working within. "Ah assume there's a but comin'?"

Vespiquen nodded. "You see, most Vespiquen remove any other females from the hive, and distance themselves from Beedrill except in times where warriors are needed... I invite wayward females into my hive, so long as they swear themselves to me, and keep the Beedrills on a permanent basis."

"Why?" Applejack asked. "Ah mean it sounds like a right noble thing ta do, but why?"

Vespiquen sighed. "My father wasn't a Combee as is normal, or a Beedrill, as is... somewhat common. He was a Scyther, he and mother had a short but passionate affair, but mother was a trainers Pokémon, and before long, she left us." Vespiquen smiled reminiscently. "My father raised me the best he could, but not the way a future queen was meant to be raised."

Vespiquen turned to Applejack. "Though that's not entirely a bad thing, seeing as how I grew up to hold the largest, most powerful hive in the Eterna Forest, and possibly all of Sinnoh."

Applejack smiled nervously. "That's good... you were talkin' about your daughter?"

Vespiquen nodded. "I was raising her to be the next queen, something not many of my kind do." The Bug type drooped a little. "She was such a small thing, barely longer than my arm... I do hope she's alright."

Applejack didn't know what to say, so she patted Vespiquen on the back. "Ah'm sure she's alright... ah mean, my friends have been findin' their families from back on Earth, so ah'm sure you will too."

Vespiquen sighed. "I hope so... and I'm sorry for making you listen to me prattle."

Applejack shook her head. "Don't be, everyone needs someone ta talk to every now and again," she laughed. "Guess ah'm just good at that sort of thing."

Vespiquen nodded. "You are a good listener."

Applejack laughed again and Vespiquen smiled a little.

"Whelp, it's been nice chattin' but ah've got work ta do."

"Of course miss Applejack," Vespiquen said with a nod.

"... and ah can't get out of here on my own."

Vespiquen blinked once, then chuckled. "My apologies."

* * *

Korrina and Lucario sat outside Sugarcube Corner, neither one of them sure of what to say.

"So... wonderful weather we're having," Korrina said.

"I'm not sure if there's been a cloudy or rainy day since we got here," Lucario replied. "So I assume you're trying to think of something to say, but couldn't and went with the first thing that came to mind."

Korrina nodded. "Pretty much."

Lucario nodded. "Well, then allow me. I kinda wish your grandfather hadn't gone back to Stagland with Serva. I rather enjoyed his company."

Korrina sighed. "Me too, but he apparently actually got a position helping Serva deal with the Pokémon," Korrina shrugged. "She needed him, and besides, we can always write to him."

"True," Lucario said.

Korrina and Lucario sat in silence for awhile longer, and would have for who knows how long, had Korrina not felt something fiddling with her roller blades.

"What the?" Looking under the table, Korrina blinked in confusion as she saw a small unicorn filly, and a pegasus colt playing spinning the wheels of her skates. "Hey!" The foals looked up at her in surprise. "Cut that out!"

The two looked at each other and blinked before turning back to Korrina and smiling. "Doggy!"

Korrina's ears curled back. "Excuse me?" She asked coldly.

Lucario sighed. "Korrina, calm down. They're just children."

Korrina continued to glare at the foals. "Fine," she slumped in her seat and ignored them, at least until the Pegasus fluttered up to her and started playing with her aura sensors, and the unicorn teleported into her lap.

"Hey! Get off!" The foals ignored Korrina and continued to play with her. "Lucario! Get them off!"

Lucario chuckled softly. "They're just playing Korrina, what's the problem?"

"I'm not comfortable around small children," Korrina admitted.

"You didn't have any problems whenever we went to Trainer schools," Lucario said.

"At least those kids will listen to you!" Korrina continued her attempts to shoo the foals away. "Now be a pal and get them off me!"

Lucario shook his head. "Alright, just let me-"

"There you two are!" Pinkie Pie shouted, hopping over to Korrina and grabbing the foals. "How do you two keep getting away from Slurpuff? You'd think a cake would always be wary of where foals are."

"Pinkie," Korrina said, eyes wide. "Are these... your foals?"

Pinkie giggled. "No silly, they're Mister and Misses Cake's kids. This is Pound Cake," she held up the colt. "And this is Pumpkin Cake."

"Doggy!"

"I am not!" Korrina snapped back.

The foals didn't seem to notice Korrina's upset attitude, and continued to try and reach her.

Pinkie set them on her back and gave them each a stuffed animal to distract them before turning back to Korrina and Lucario. "So, what brings you two here?" She gasped. "Are you on a date?!"

"No Pinkie," Korrina said. "We're just... hanging out," Korrina then explained her and Lucario's current relationship. Pinkie listened intently throughout the entire thing and nodded once she was finished.

"That sounds like a smart thing to do," she said. "And if you guys don't have any ideas, I could help you out."

"Sure," Lucario said with a shrug. "Why not?"

Pinkie smiled and clapped her hooves. "Well, whenever I want to get to know someone better, I always try to get interested in at least one thing that they're interested in that I wasn't before."

Lucario and Korrina looked at each other. "That's... actually a pretty good idea Pinkie."

"Don't act so surprised," Pinkie said. "Parties aren't the only thing I'm good at," She said with a laugh. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get these two back inside."

Pinkie hopped off with Pound and Pumpkin, who waved goodbye to Korrina as they left.

"So," Lucario began. "Do you want to go first? I'm not sure what we'd do for mine anyway."

Korrina tapped her chin and thought for a moment, then smiled slyly at Lucario. "I have an idea."

* * *

"Korrina... I don't think I want to do this anymore."

"Oh don't be such a scaredy Skitty, I do this all the time."

"Yes but I never have... I'm not even sure if these things fit me."

"Well... if that's really how you feel..."

"Thank you for, wait, wait, wait! AHH!"

Korrina smiled as she watched Lucario go. "Don't worry!" She called after him. "Just keep your arms out and-"

_*Crash*_

"Ok try to avoid-"

_*Crash*_

_*Bam*_

"LOOK OUT!"

"Oh crap." Korrina took off after the currently out of control Lucario. "Just hold on and-"

_*Bang*_

"Try not to-"

_*Crash*_

"Just stop crashing!"

"Easier said than- OUT OF THE WAY- done!" Lucario called back.

"Just hold your arms out and-"

"LAKE!"

_*Splash*_

Korrina winced as Lucario skated right into Ponyville Lake. "Shoot," rushing over to the lake, she found Lucario half submerged and soaking wet, glaring up at her from the water.

Korrina laughed nervously. "Soo... did you think of what you wanted to do?"

Lucario sighed and stood up. "I do have one idea," he admitted.

Korrina smiled. "Great! What did you... Lucario? What are you... stay back!"

Korrina tried to run but failed to escape before Lucario ran up to her and gave her a very wet hug. In her struggle to get away from him, the two fell over onto the soft grass. Lucario landing on top of her.

"Next time," Lucario whispered. "Why don't we try something less likely to end with me in a lake?"

Korrina blushed and nodded. "O-okay," she agreed.

Lucario smiled and got up, pulling Korrina to her feet as he did.

"So," he began. "Do you want to deal with what just happened in town, or what?"

Korrina, still slightly shocked from what had just happened, shook her head and said. "Let's go with... or what."


	51. Chapter 48

Misty had a skip in her step as she followed Twilight into Whitetail Woods.

"So you know this Professor guy then?" Applejack asked as she trotted alongside the group consisting of herself, Twilight, Misty, Togepi, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, May, Blaziken, Juniper, and Rainbow Dash

"That's right," Misty said with a smile. "May knows him too," she gestured to the Delphox walking along side her. "We both met him through a friend of ours when we went to visit his lab."

"And I know him through work," Juniper added absently. "It'll be nice to see him again, it's been quite some time since his last visit."

"Do you have any idea why he acted so strange yesterday?" Twilight asked.

Juniper smiled. "Oak is more of a live in the moment type of guy, I'm not surprised he didn't think about where the girls should have been when he was teaching them," Juniper paused. "Though... you said he mentioned others... I wonder who that could be."

"Probably some Ponies... people... Pokémon... some guys he met up with after he got here," Rainbow shrugged.

"You think it'll be anyone we know?" May asked.

"Could be," Misty said. "You didn't show up _that_ far away really," she smiled.

May smirked. "Looks like someone's getting their hopes up."

Misty looked away from the Delphox. "I'm just... excited at the idea of seeing some of my friends again."

Togepi giggle from her position on Misty's back. "I know who! I know who!"

May snickered, and several of the ponies looked at her and Togepi in confusion, but they continued walking.

"Hey guys?" Pinkie asked after a few minutes. "Do we know where we're suppose to meet up with Professor Oak?"

Everyone stopped and, after a moment's contemplation, turned to Twilight. "Oh... well, I guess we just go to where we found him yesterday," Twilight laughed nervously. "Sorry, guess I didn't think of that."

Several of the ponies chuckled, and Misty rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Twilight, I'm sure Professor Oak will come to the same conclusion."

Twilight smiled, then looked around to gain her bearings. "I think it was... this way."

Twilight headed in the direction that she was pretty sure the clearing they had met Professor Oak was, and the rest of the group followed.

"Do you girls think we should have brought someone else with?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes scanning the tree tops. "Like Iris, or Belle... what if we run into something dangerous?"

"Don't worry so much Shy," Rainbow said. "It's Whitetail Woods, not the Everfree Forest, nothing dangerous ever-"

Rainbow was interrupted by a crashing sound off to their right. "Ya just had to say that didn't ya?"

"We don't know that whatever that was wasn't friendly," Rainbow defended. "I mean, Iris looks like she could slice any of us in two, but she's cool."

"You think we should go investigate?" Juniper asked. "Rainbow Dash does have a point."

"See? The Professor agrees with me," Rainbow said with a cocky grin.

"I don't know," Blaziken said, shaking his head slowly. "It might be safer just to stay away from it, just in case."

Rarity nodded. "I think you're getting a little too comfortable Rainbow Dash," she said. "Some Pokémon can be truly dangerous, and there are still other creatures that can be problematic."

"Which is what we have Fluttershy for," Rainbow said, patting the pegasus on her head. "All ah'm sayin' is that we've met like five or six Pokémon that were actually bad or wanted to hurt ponies, the rest," she shrugged. "Misunderstandings."

"Yeah but-" Twilight began.

"Nope," Rainbow held up her hoof. "Not gonna let you overthink it this time," she spread her wings and took off, heading in the direction of the sounds. "I'm just going to go talk to whoever did that, ask what they're doing, then come right back here, maybe with a Pokémon or two."

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack called after her. "Get your flank back here! Ya don't know what's over there!"

"You think she's gonna be alright?" Pinkie asked worriedly. "I don't want Dashie to get-"

"YAAHHH!" Rainbow Dash blew past them, then flew back to them. "I was wrong, you were right, we need to leave, now!" Rainbow grabbed Applejack and Fluttershy by their hooves and started pulling them.

"What's the matter?" Applejack asked, smiling coyly. "Somethin' scare ya?"

"Yeah," Rainbow said flatly. "That!"

Everyone turned to see a black, red, and blue, three headed figure crashing through the forest, knocking over trees as it made its way towards them. "YOU!" The Hydreigon roared as it made its way towards them.

Misty's eyes widened. "I think its the same one the Princess blasted."

"Ya think?!" Rainbow shouted.

May gulped. "We _really_ should've brought Belle or Iris with."

Blaziken growled and stepped in front of May.

Despite the situation, and how terrified she was, Twilight decided to do something that was either very brave, or very stupid. "H-hello?" she shakily said as she walked up to the Hydreigon. "I know we didn't get off to the best start last time, but-" anything else she was about to say never came as she had to promptly teleport away from a Dragon Pulse that was sent at her.

"I guess diplomacy is out of the question," Juniper gulped as Twilight appeared next to her.

"Ya jus HAD ta go an check, didn't ya Rainbow?" Applejack deadpanned. Rainbow Dash just glared in response. Any further conversation was abruptly stopped as the Hydreigon roared and barreled straight towards them.

Blaziken was about to meet him head on, but May put her paw on his shoulder, and shook her head frantically, before turning to the others. "Run!" May shouted and the group promptly bolted in the opposite direction.

"Oh no you don't!" Hydreigon growled, before roaring loudly. From the direction they were running towards, heavy footsteps could be heard, causing them to stop in their tracks.

"I don't like the sound of that," Misty gulped nervously. From the trees, two large Pokémon stepped into view.

One was a large green Pokémon with stone like skin and spikes running down its back. The other was a blue, rock skinned humanoid Pokémon with four arms, sporting some kind of belt around its waist.

"What is it, boss? Looks like some of them puny Ponies," the Machamp scoffed.

"Oh, don't let their looks fool ya," Hydreigon growled. "I got a bone to pick with them."

The Machamp and the Tyranitar shared a look, before looking at them in disbelief. "You serious?" Tyranitar gapped. "These pipsqueaks beat YOU?"

"Oh, they had help last time. Too bad for them, the help ain't here this time," Hydreigon grinned.

The group gulped as they huddled together. "Any ideas?" Twilight asked, trying to keep from panicking. At this point, she really, REALLY wanted to just teleport everyone out, but due to how large their group was, by the time she could be ready to teleport everyone at once, the Pokémon would have noticed, and probably blasted them to pieces. Turning to the rest of her friends didn't help either. All of them were terrified, and they knew they were cornered like rats at this point. Rarity looked on the verge of fainting, Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf, Pinkie was very much afraid, Applejack looked like she was willing to fight, but clearly not confident of their chances, and even Rainbow Dash lacked her usual confidence at the odds facing them.

Misty looked at the opponents they were facing, her mind running several miles per second to formulate a plan, any plan, to keep them alive, while at the same time she kept casting worried glances at Togepi who was hiding behind her, shivering in fear. Hydreigon was pretty much a hopeless case from type advantage alone, with the only one of them possibly standing a chance being Blaziken. The Tyranitar and the Machamp on the other hand… "May, Professor, Blaziken, I've got a plan, but you're not going to like it."

"Does it involve us not dying horribly at the hands and/or claws of violent Pokémon that sound like gangsters?" May deadpanned, to which Misty nodded. "Let's hear it."

"I doubt we stand a chance against Hydreigon, but against the Tyranitar and Machamp, we've got a chance. I'll take on the Tyranitar, and Juniper takes on the Machamp, since both of us have a type advantage, and if we manage to knock out either one, make a break for it," Misty explained.

"What about me and Blaziken? And the girls for that matter?" May asked.

"Well...this is the part you'll probably hate me for," Misty chuckled nervously as she looked towards Hydreigon. May and the ponies looked towards where she was looking, and promptly paled. "You've gotta...distract it while we deal with the other two…"

"No," Blaziken said, placing a talon on May's shoulder. "I'll do it."

Hearing him, May's eyes widened in fear. "No way. I am NOT letting you fight THAT alone. Alright, Misty, I'll do it."

"May!" Blaziken said in alarm. However, before he could argue any further, Hydreigon got tired of waiting.

"Alright, I think we've scared them enough. Get them!" Hydreigon roared, before lunging forward.

"Go!" Juniper shouted, as they scattered. Juniper made a beeline straight for Machamp, while Misty jumped towards Tyranitar, but not before giving Togepi to Fluttershy, the pegasus quickly shielding her with her wings. May and Blaziken went for Hydreigon to distract him for as long as they could.

"Water Pulse!" Misty shouted as she fired the attack at Tyranitar. The attack hit, but Tyranitar was still standing.

"Hah! That all you got? You'll need to do better if….why is everything spinning?" he stumbled, the effects taking hold.

"Psychic!" Juniper shouted, as she fired her attack at Machamp. However, Machamp was faster, and managed to dodge.

"My turn. Low Sweep!" Machamp shouted, but instead of aiming for Juniper's feet (which is impossible since Beheeyem don't actually have legs), he aimed a little higher, sending her flying back, and colliding with Misty.

"Good job man. My turn now. Stone Edge!" Tyranitar slurred, as he was still confused...only to knock Machamp over. "Watch it, rock brains!"

"Fire Spin!" May called out, as Hydreigon was encircled with fire. However, the Dragon-type just laughed. "Is this supposed to do anything?" he taunted, as he barely felt the flames.

"No, but THIS will! Sky Uppercut!" Blaziken called out, before delivering a vicious blow to Hydreigon's chin.

The dragon's head snapped back from the force of the attack, his body getting launched off the ground. Once he managed to right himself again, he glared at them. "You'll pay for that," he growled darkly, before opening his mouth. "Hyper Beam!" The beam of intense energy fired, and everyone was forced to dodge as the beam tore a trench into the ground.

"An opening! Crunch!" Tyranitar shouted as he lunged for Misty, who had just finished dodging. Fortunately, someone saw him first.

Togepi's eyes widened when she saw Tyranitar aiming to bite Misty in half, and quickly waved her little hands. _Metronome!_ she thought, hoping for something that can stop him. What came was a blast of pinkish wind, a Fairy Wind attack. The attack intercepted Tyranitar, sending him tumbling right into Machamp.

"Now! Confusion!" Juniper shouted.

"Water Pulse!" Misty added. The two attacks collided with the large Pokémon, confusing them both again.

"Hey buddy, did I ever tell ya how much ah love ya?" Machamp slurred.

"Tell me later. Let me catch all the pretty birdies first," Tyranitar slurred back.

With the two large Pokémon confused, Misty and Juniper quickly ran between them. "Hey rocks for brains! That all you got? I've met Magikarp that were stronger than you!" Misty taunted Tyranitar, before turning to Machamp. "Same goes for you too meat head! Bet you couldn't catch a Goldeen on land!"

"Why you little!" both of them growled at the smaller Water-type. "We'll show you!"

"Giga Impact!"

"Dynamic Punch!"

The two large Pokémon barreled at them with all the intent of a runaway freight train...only for them to jump aside at the last minute, causing the two large Pokémon to slam right into each other. The ensuing explosion sent everyone flying off their feet as the two Pokémon landed heavily on the ground, dazed, but still conscious.

Seeing this, Hydreigon growled. "Idiots. This is what I get for associating with those two morons."

"Let's get out of here!" Twilight shouted, as they all made a dash for safety, May and Blaziken quickly breaking away from their distraction. Seeing this, Hydreigon growled again.

"Oh no you don't! Tri Attack!" he roared as he fired 3 individual beams from his three mouths, aiming particularly at the Pokémon, who due to running away, didn't see the attack coming until it was too late.

Misty screamed when the beam of electricity hit, her new body's weakness to the element making the pain several times worse than what it would have been had she still been human. May and Blaziken were also caught in surprise when what felt like an Ice Beam hit, but instead of a slight feeling of pain that they expected, it felt almost like they were being doused by cold water, making both of them cry out in pain. Juniper also didn't fare any better, as despite not being weak to the element, her somewhat metallic body was still very much susceptible to getting burned, which was exactly what the fire element did. The attack only lasted for a moment or two, but when it was over, the three former humans were on the ground, twitching in pain, while Blaziken was on his knee, shakily getting back to his feet.

"Get back on your feet, you sad excuses for mons! Dragon Rage!" Hydreigon growled, before firing the attack at Tyranitar and Machamp. The attack did little damage, but it was enough to snap them out of their daze, and get them scrambling back to their feet.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here!" Rainbow Dash urged as the Ponies had stopped to help the Pokémon up, which was difficult considering the damage that last attack had done.

"Not so tough now, eh," Machamp grinned. "Cross Chop!"

Seeing the attack coming, but not being able to do anything, the group closed their eyes in fear, but the attack never hit.

"Bulldoze!" a familiar (to Misty, May, Blaziken, and Togepi) voice called out, before a loud stomping noise was heard, and Machamp was hit with a shockwave. Looking to the source, they saw large grey bipedal rhinoceros, with a spiral horn. However, what really caught Misty and May's attention about the Rhydon was his eyes, which were squinted rather than wide open. However, what confirmed what they thought was what the Rhydon did next. "Now! Croagunk, Poison Jab!" at his command, a blue bipedal frog with orange cheek pouches and a white midsection jumped into the clearing, before his paw glowed purple, and was promptly driven into Machamp's gut. Machamp gasped, before a sickly look appeared on his face, and he promptly fell over.

"Machamp! You'll pay for that! Earthquake!" Tyranitar growled in anger at seeing his friend like that. However, before he could actually attack, something else stopped him.

"Piplup, Bubble Beam!" came another familiar voice.

"Right! Bubble Beam!" a young sounding voice called out, as a flurry of bubbles hit Tyranitar with the force of a machine gun. Tyranitar roared in pain as he stumbled back, but managed to right himself.

"Why you little-!" he growled, but before he could do anything else, the first voice could be heard again.

"Jump Kick!" From the treeline, a tall, slender rabbit like creature jumped high into the air. What was notable about this Lopunny, was her ear, which instead of falling down on the sides of her head, fell down behind her head much like how hair would, as well as the familiar white beanie that covered her head. That, along with the Pokémon on her shoulder, a small blue penguin, only served to confirm who she was. The Lopunny soon came down, and landed the attack right on Tyranitar's face, sending him flying back in an unconscious heap.

With the two Pokémon incapacitated, and Hydreigon still shocked from how easily they had been beaten, the Rhydon and the Lopunny approached the group quickly.

"You okay?" the Rhydon asked worriedly.

Looking up at them, Misty couldn't help but ask. "Brock? Dawn?"

Hearing her, both of their eyes widened in surprise, before they recognized both the Togepi and the Blaziken that were with the group. "Misty? May?" Dawn asked in surprise, earning a nod in response. However, before they could say anything more, an angry roar got their attentions again.

Hydreigon was REALLY seeing red now. Not bothering with words, he charged up another Hyper Beam, intending to fry them all in one shot. However, just like his friends, he was interrupted mid attack, courtesy of a High Jump Kick to the chin by a Hawlucha who had jumped out of the treeline.

"Hawlucha, where's-" Brock started, but was quickly cut off.

"He got us some backup. He should be here right about...now," the Hawlucha stated, just as another voice rang out.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!" a VERY familiar voice called out, and from the trees, a Charizard came barreling out, his claws glowing with a green aura.

"Take this!" he roared, before slashing Hydreigon across the chest, pushing him back considerably. However, the attack wasn't done. From off Charizard's back, two yellow rodent like creatures with red cheeks and lightning bolt shaped tails leapt forward, with one of them wearing a red hat that Misty would recognize anywhere.

"Alright Pikachu, let's do it! Iron Tail!" the Pikachu with a red hat ordered.

"Right!" the other Pikachu nodded, before both their tails glowed, and quickly changed in color to that of metal. In perfect synch, they flipped in mid-air, and promptly struck Hydreigon in the head with their tails.

For a moment, nobody moved as the two Pikachus back flipped and landed on the ground. Then, Hydreigon let out a groan, before falling on his back, his eyes swirls. "And stay down," Charizard snorted as he landed, while the two Pikachu walked towards the group.

The Ponies and their Pokémon companions could only stare in shock, trying to process what they had just seen, before Misty broke the silence. "A-Ash?" she asked, knowing exactly who it was. Afterall, the hat and the fact that he looked EXACTLY like the time he had been turned into a Pikachu was a dead give away.

Ash blinked in surprise, recognizing the voice, before nodding. "Hey Misty, its been a while," he smiled.

Misty was about to walk closer to him, but she promptly fell over as her injuries made themselves known as the adrenaline started to wear off. Seeing that, Ash quickly ran forward, using his body to brace hers, while Brock helped her from falling over completely. "Easy there, you all took a real beating already," the Rhydon said, before turning towards the trees. "Chansey, its safe to come out now," he called, as from behind the tree a Chansey walked out.

"Oh dear," she gasped as she saw the state Misty, May, Blaziken, and Juniper were in, before quickly approaching them and placing her paws on them. "Heal Pulse," she said as she started healing them. She kept the flow going for a few moments, and by the time she was done, most of their injuries had vanished like they were never there.

Ash smiled as Misty got to her feet. "You guys alright?" He asked, walking over to Misty.

"We are now," May said. "Thanks for the save Ash."

Ash blinked in surprise again. "May? Wow, talk about good luck, I can't believe I found both of you."

"Yeah, it's certainly a happy coincidence," Misty said, she smiled at Ash for a moment, but was pulled from her trance as someone cleared their throat.

Misty turned to see Twilight and the rest of the ponies standing behind her.

"Oh, right," Misty turned back to Ash. "Ash, these are some of our friends."

"Hi, I'm Princ-"

"Oh my gosh!" Rainbow Dash shot past Twilight and hovered right in front of Ash and the rest of the Pokémon. "That. Was. Awesome! You were all like. "Take that!" And they were like. "Oh no, not the face!" And then..." she shook her head. "I'm Rainbow Dash, it's great to meet you."

Ash, though slightly taken aback by Rainbow at first, smiled. "I'm Ash Ketchum. This is Pikachu," Pikachu waved at the mares. "Charizard, and Hawlucha," Hawlucha took a bow, while Charizard just nodded. "Brock and Croagunk," The Rhydon smiled, while Croagunk just... sat there. "And Dawn and Piplup." Dawn waved, while Piplup put his flippers at his sides and smiled slightly.

"It's nice to meet you all," Twilight said. "As I was saying, I'm Twilight, you already met Rainbow Dash, and this is Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy."

The Ponies all waved.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright," Ash said. "The Professor said you were coming with Professor Juniper," he looked up at the Beheeyem. "Can't say I'm too surprised that you're a Beheeyem actually."

Juniper crossed her arms. "Everyone keeps telling me that."

Ash chuckled and turned to Charizard and Chansey. "Do you guys think you can take those three," he gestured at the unconscious Pokémon. "Somewhere far enough away that they won't cause any trouble?"

Charizard thought for a second, then nodded before grabbing the Hydreigon and, after a moment of struggle, taking off with it.

Chansey just saluted, picked up the Tyranitar and Machamp, and walked off with them.

The ponies all watched in shock as Chansey walked off with two Pokémon twice her size, their faces reminiscent of when Spike and Twilight had seen Rainbow clear the sky in ten seconds flat.

"So," Ash clapped his paws together. "Now that you're all here, why don't we head back to our campsite?"

"Campsite?" Pinkie inquired.

"It's more of a base camp," Brock said. "We set up here and all our Pokémon like this place, so it's a win-win since we're near a town."

Ash nodded, then smiled. "That reminds me, guess who else we ran into? Tracey! And my mom! They're back at camp with Professor Oak and our Pokémon."

Ash ran off a little bit, then turned back. "Well come on," he called. "Don't you wanna meet everyone?"

* * *

"Ash..." Misty deadpanned. "You said you found _some_ of your Pokémon, not the entirety of Professor Oaks lab!"

Ash chuckled. "I guess I should have been a little clearer huh?"

"Maybe a little," May chuckled as she looked around the campsite Ash and the others had set up.

There were Pokémon EVERYWHERE. A Swellow, a Staraptor, a Shiny Noctowl, an Unfezant, and a Fletchinder were perched in the trees, and a Sceptile was snoozing on one of the branches.

Literally a dozen other Pokémon, ranging from ones like Geodude and Venonat, to ones like Emboar and Gliscor were walking around the camp.

A Smeargle with a black ink tipped tail and a Leavanny whose head leaves curved backwards and down instead of up and was accompanied by a Mr. Mime were going around to all the Pokémon, seeing if they needed anything.

"Did you actually find all of your Pokémon?" Misty asked curiously.

"Well, not all of them," the Pikachu admitted. "Muk is still missing, and so are my Tauros."

"But otherwise?" Misty raised an eyebrow.

Ash smiled. "Guess I've just been lucky."

"You always were," May mumbled under her breath remembering just how lucky Ash could get sometimes, especially when dealing with Pokémon.

"So is Samuel around?" Juniper asked. "And if so, could you take me to him? Because I've been looking forward to seeing him again."

Dawn nodded. "Sure thing Professor," The Lopunny stepped forward and gestured for Juniper to follow her. "He should be this way."

Juniper smiled. "Thank you. Come on Twilight, and anyone else who wants to learn a new thing or two."

Twilight and Juniper followed after Dawn, though curiously, no one else did.

"I'm going to go introduce myself to everyone," Pinkie said with a grin, hoping off, she stopped in front of a Quilava and said. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?"

"She seems... friendly," Brock commented.

"She is," Misty nodded. "Very friendly... with everyone... and I mean _everyone_."

The Rhydon smiled. "Speaking of friends," he turned to May. "We found some of yours."

"Max?" May asked hopefully.

Brock frowned. "No, some more of your Pokémon. So far we've found Venusaur, Glaceon, Wartortle, and Munchlax."

May was disappointed that she still hadn't found her brother, but smiled at the prospect of finding some of her Pokémon. "Well, I'm glad they're alright... could you show me to them?"

Brock nodded. "They've been worried sick about you, kept saying they just hoped Blaziken was with you."

Blaziken smirked and May grumbled to herself as Brock led the pair off.

"I'm going to go... introduce myself," Fluttershy said meekly before walking over to a Froakie and introducing herself.

"And I... shall go with her," Rarity said, elbowing Applejack in the side.

"Huh? Oh uhh, me too." The pair smiled and trotted off.

"And I'm going to..." Rainbow trailed off. "Go... talk to those birds." The Pegasus took off, smiling awkwardly at Misty.

"Well, that was kinda weird," Ash commented. "Right, Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded, then smirked. "Hey Misty? You mind if I take Togepi and take her to some of the others? I know they'll be happy to see her again."

"Oh! Can I go Misty?" Togepi asked.

Misty smiled and laughed. "Of course you can," the Vaporeon crouched down and let Togepi off her back. "Just be careful."

"I will!" Togepi called as Pikachu led her off.

Misty smiled for a moment, then her smile slowly shifted into a look of horror as she realized what had just happened. All of her friends, including Pikachu, had just left her alone. With Ash.

"So Misty," Ash began. "Looks like we're alone huh?"

"I... I guess so," Misty gulped.

"Well then, I guess now would be the perfect time,"

Misty's eyes widened and she leaned forward, her ears strained so she could hear him say-

"For us to catch up a bit! I haven't seen you in... Misty? Why do you look like a kicked Growlithe? Misty?"

* * *

It was a short time later and May was sitting on Venusaur's back, petting Glaceon with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad to see you May," Glaceon said. "We were worried that you would get yourself hurt."

"It was sweet of you to worry," May said with a smile. "But you guys know I _can_ take care of myself."

None of her Pokémon said anything for a moment, resulting in an awkward silence.

"Oh come on!" May cried. "I wasn't _that_ helpless was I?"

Blaziken chuckled. "No May, you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. We just worry about you is all."

May smiled slightly.

"Soo," Wartortle said curiously. "What have you two been up to since we got here?"

"And how are ya takin' ta bein' a Delphox May?" Venusaur asked.

"It was... tough at first," May said with a sigh. "But Blaziken was there when I woke up, and he really helped me through everything."

Glaceon smirked. "Oh I bet he's been a _big_ help, hasn't he?"

May raised an eyebrow at Glaceon. "Yeah... he's been training me, and he's just been there for me all this time."

"Aww," Wartortle cooed. "How sweet."

May sighed and looked away from her Pokémon.

"Don't be embarrassed May," Blaziken said, putting a claw on her shoulder. "They use to poke fun at me all the time."

Glaceon and Wartortle giggled, and Venusaur rolled her eyes and chuckled softly, Munchlax, on the other hand, noticed the look Blaziken was giving May, and how she was acting.

"Hold up a minute," Munchlax said, looking at Blaziken. "Did you actually tell her?"

Blaziken nodded. "Yeah... just a few days ago."

Glaceon looked up at her trainer and cocked her head. "And you're... okay with that?"

"Well..." May began. "We're just... testing the waters, seeing how things go."

Glaceon, Wartortle, Venusaur and Munchlax stared at them in disbelief for a moment, then Venusaur smiled. "Well, it's about time," she said with a laugh. "He's been pinin' for ya for a long time now."

Blaziken blushed and turned away. May laughed quietly.

"Oh, you two are just soo, cute!" Glaceon said with a smile.

Now May was blushing as well, and the rest of her Pokémon were smiling and laughing. "Don't worry you two," Wartortle said. "We're just teasing," he smiled and added. "Mostly."

* * *

Misty sighed. She had spent the last hour catching up with Ash, Brock, Dawn, and Tracey, who had been turned into a Smeargle. And while it had been nice seeing all her old friends, Misty still felt... unfulfilled.

"Why can't... what is... uggg!" Misty flopped over onto her back, unable to find the right words to describe her frustration.

A soft laugh interrupted her self loathing. "Oh I know that feeling," Misty looked up to see Delia Ketchum, now a Leavanny, standing over her. "Do you mind if I sit?"

Misty flopped back onto her stomach. "Sure Mrs. Ketchum," Misty said with a sigh.

She smiled and sat down next to Misty. "You know you can just call me Delia, Misty. After all, we've known each other for years."

"I know but... you're one of my best friends moms, it just seems... weird to me." Misty shrugged. "But I can try."

"Thanks Misty," Delia said with a smile. "So, how have you been?" She glared down at the Vaporeon. "It was more than a month since you last came to visit me."

Misty chuckled nervously. "Sorry Mis...um, Delia, my sisters hopped on another cruise and I got stuck running the gym solo again."

Delia laughed and shook her head. "I'm just joking Misty, I know you're a busy woman," the Leavanny sighed. "I just get lonely is all. Don't get me wrong, Mimey and Oaky are great company but... well, A.) I do like to talk to other girls every so often and..." she sighed again. "When Ash took his place as a Frontier Brain, I thought he'd be around more. Guess the job was busier than we all thought."

Misty looked down and sighed. "We all did," she sighed, remembering the times Ash informed them that Scott had asked him to scout out different regions to set up more Battle Frontier Facilities. The longest he had been gone was when he had to go to Kalos for nearly a year. Heck, he had been there for so long, he had even been able to compete in the Kalos League (she remembered snickering at that bit of news thanks to the deja vu it brought about) before his job was done.

Delia smiled slyly and patted Misty on the back. "Don't worry Misty, I don't think Ash is going to be going anywhere for awhile, so you two will have a lot more time to... catch up."

Misty blushed lightly. "That's... great! I love Ash- I MEAN I LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH ASH! I MEAN..." Misty stopped talking as Delia was now laughing hysterically on the ground next to her.

Misty plopped down on the ground and covered her eyes with her paws. "Why me?" She asked aloud.

"Oh don't _*hehe*_ don't worry _*snerk*_ dear, I'm sure Ash loves you..."

Misty's eyes widened and she turned to Delia, hope in her eyes.

"Your company," Delia finished.

Misty blushed crimson and fell down, covering her face again. Delia laughed and picked up the Vaporeon. "There there Misty, everything's going to work out for you two," she leaned down and whispered. "I'm rooting for you."

Mage sighed to herself as she floated in the center of the boutique, reading. Currently, Belle was in the kitchen, hopefully not trying to cook anything, and Gene was upstairs, but everyone else was out and about... though Webber might have been in the attic.

At least the book was good, the plot was only so so but it was pretty descriptive so-

*knock, knock, knock*

"I got it!" Mage shouted, the Mismagius set down the book, a romance novel she'd found in Rarity's closet, and floated over to the door.

Sticking her head through it she said. "Sorry, Rarity is-" Mage's eyes widened as she saw who was standing at the door.

One was a Ninetales she didn't recognize, but the Shiny Arcanine beside her Mage couldn't not recognize, and that gave her a pretty good idea of who the Ninetales was.

"Well if it isn't Mage the Prank Queen," Abby said with a small smirk. "What's the matter, Skitty got your tongue?"

"Abby?" Mage asked. "You're a... be right back." Mage floated back through the door and turned towards the kitchen. "Beeellle!"


	52. Chapter 49

Abby Trombley was basically Belle's best friend.

She and Gene had met her and Kasai by chance one night and they had really hit it off, especially after Abby had revealed she and Kasai were in a _very_ loving relationship.

Afterwards, they had had the good fortune to run into the pair several times, and even set up meetings on a few occasions. It had been nice, and had given the team some semblance of a more normal life, and friends who they could actually see from time to time.

It was for all these reasons, and many more, that Belle was elated when mage had announced Abby was at the door, and why she had her arms wrapped around the Ninetales while she licked her face.

Belle chuckled and reluctantly let go of her friend before stepping out of the doorway. "Come right in, I'll be right back with my dear mate." Belle disappeared in a flash of blue.

"Whoa!" Gene stumbled backwards as Belle appeared in front of him. "Where's the fire Belle?"

"Gene... Abby and Kasai are downstairs," Belle said.

Gene's eyes widened and he shouted. "WHO'S DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW?!"

Not waiting for Belle to explain, Gene rushed downstairs to see a familiar Arcanine and a Ninetales he assumed was Abby staring at him.

"Abby! Kasai!" He said happily. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Thought we'd get left behind on Earth?" Abby inquired playfully as she rushed up to him and got up on her hind legs to give him a lick on the face as she had done with Belle. "And here I was hoping you'd be a Lopunny with thighs of steel for Belle to appreciate, for once, heh."

Belle stepped down stairs just in time to hear _that_ comment. "That would have been..." she blushed lightly, "interesting. But I'm happy with him just the way he is." She kissed Gene on the cheek.

Gene rolled his eyes, he liked his thighs just the way were. "So, how have you guys been?"

"Oh you know, adapting to a new world, getting ready to start a family, you know the usual," Kasai replied with a smile.

"Yep, getting pregnant, making love, stopping riots, fun times," Abby agreed, giving Gene another lick on the cheek before she got down and showed off her rather prominent belly. "Any day now the egg is due."

Belle smiled calmly, doing her best to hide her shock and excitement. "Lucky you," She put a hand over her own belly. "I still have a few months."

Mage's eyes widened and she turned to Belle, giving her a 'What the heck?' Look, for not telling her sooner.

"Figured you would," Abby said slyly. "You two are just as active as Kasai and I are, heh."

Gene chuckled. "Yeah, well, aside from that, we've been helping the Princesses, met Twilight our first day here, and we," he smiled at Belle and grabbed her hand before held both of theirs up, showing off their rings. "We finally had our wedding."

Kasai's eyes lit up. "Really? Well congratulations! I'm sorry we missed it, it must've been a memorable day for the two of you."

"You had your wedding without us there?" Abby asked, pouting up at Belle. "And here I thought we were friends," she added jokingly.

Belle laughed. "To be fair, Pinkie kinda sprung it on us too." She explained.

"We didn't know it was happening until the day before the actual wedding," Gene added, shaking his head.

"... really?" Abby replied in confusion..

The couple nodded. "Pinkie's a great mare," Belle said. "And an even better friend, but when it comes to any kind of celebration she can go kinda..."

"Overboard?" Mage supplied.

"Crazy," Belle and Gene completed together.

Kasai and Abby glanced at each other. "We really probably don't want her to meet Vivi..." Kasai noted to Abby.

"Yeah... I don't think that even mom could keep them from taking over the entire country beneath a party tent..." Abby agreed.

"Mom?" Gene asked. "I thought-" He bit his lip and stopped himself. Abby had told him that her parents had died when she was in her teens.

Abby let out a small sigh. "Yeah... is there anywhere in here that we can sit down? It turns out that Kasai and I have a lot to tell you... see... we may have lied a little bit when we first met you..."

Gene and Belle looked at each other with confusion, then at their friends with concern. "This way." Gene and Belle led them to Rarity's waiting/living room and over to the pair of couches around the coffee table. "What exactly did you lie about?" Gene asked. Abby and Kasai had told them a lot, so guessing what it was...

Abby let out another sigh. "Look, I want you two to promise us something... you can't freak out when we tell you this, not until we're absolutely done okay?" Abby looked... scared more than anything else. Gene wondered just what she had lied to them about.

"We promise," they said together.

"I promise too," Mage added. "In case anyone was wondering."

Kasai frowned. "Alright... there's no real good way to say it but... Abby is a Ranger."

"A Top Ranger, Pokephilia division," Abby added one of her tails twirling around Kasai's for comfort. "My main job was to track down the most wanted violators and see them brought to justice."

Belle, Mage, and Gene stared at the two in shock. "You're kidding," Mage said. "I mean... come on, you can't be serious." She said with a nervous laugh.

"Dead serious," Kasai replied, his ears now flat against his face. "The night Abby and I... stumbled into your campsite wasn't by coincidence, we were there to... well, to judge the two of you."

"Yes..." Abby agreed as she took in a deep breath. "You see, Kasai and I fell in love early... and well... we both knew that there was such a thing as _good_ Pokephilia so we made it our duty to track down the most wanted and judge them. If they were abusive then we took them down, if they weren't we let them go free and told Hastings that the Union would never catch them... normally it worked well and we never saw them again..." Abby trailed off. "But you two... we became friends with your little family and well... we don't have many friends."

"So we made a promise that the next time we saw you... we would tell the truth and... we kept putting it off and putting it off and... well, here we are," Kasai said, glancing his head up at the three.

Gene had his eyes closed and was absentmindedly rubbing his ring with one of his fingers. _"Well... what now?"_ He asked mentally to Belle and Mage.

"_They're being honest,"_ Belle thought. _"I knew I should have done a mental scan when we met them."_

"_I'm pretty sure Luke put something in place that would've stopped you,"_ Mage replied, referring to Abby's Gallade.

"_Hmm... either way... what do we do know?"_ Belle asked.

"_Well,"_ Gene began. _"I... can't seem to get angry at them."_

"_You hardly ever get angry,"_ Mage reminded him. _"Which is weird by the way."_

"_Well yeah but... look, I forgave Solana and Lunick, and they tried to arrest me,"_ he sighed. _"Besides... I don't want to lose them."_

"_Same here,"_ Belle agreed.

"_Ditto,"_ Mage added. _"Or Luke for that matter."_

Pulling out of the mental conversation, Gene spoke. "After all these years," He began, his voice low, Abby's ears flicked back reflexively with worry. "After knowing us for so long, did you really think," Kasai winced at what was about to come, but as Gene opened his eyes he said. "That I could stay mad at you two?"

The Arcanine and the Ninetales both blinked in surprise for a moment before smiles slowly grew on their faces. "You're... you're not mad?" Abby asked slowly, almost disbelieving what she was hearing.

Gene smiled. "I forgave two Rangers who tried to arrest me, and I barely knew them," he said. "I think I can forgive two of my best friends, especially after they kept the less understanding Rangers off our backs for so long."

Kasai's smile turned into a grin. "Thanks... I'm glad you understand, heh, in fact... it feels nice to finally let the truth out after all this time."

"Yeah..." Abby said before she moved forwards on the couch and for a brief moment, Gene's face was covered in slobber before she moved off of him and did the same to Belle. "Hehehe, I love having an excuse to do that."

Belle smiled, then blinked, then blushed as she realized something.

"What?" Abby asked her, catching the expression.

"Everything I... told you... I told... Ranger," Belle finished with a squeak as she recalled some of the more... private things she and Abby had talked about. _I knew I should have done a mental check!_

Kasai frowned. "Wait... what?"

Abby smirked. "Hey, it's not like I ever told anyone, honest, look into my mind if you don't believe me," she said with a raised eyebrow.

Belle frowned slightly, then reached towards Abby's mind with her own intending to reassure herself- "GAH!" Belle pulled back into her mind as she met a mental block of a rather... private moment between Abby and Kasai. "Abby! What the heck?!"

Abby sniggered. "Sorry, couldn't resist," she replied. "Luke put that in place a while ago just in case, but seriously, I promise that I haven't told anyone those things Belle."

_I should've listened to Mage._ Belle, still blushing, sighed. "I believe you," She said. "I wouldn't have told you them if I didn't trust you."

"What are you two talking about?" Gene asked in confusion.

"Womanly business," Abby said aloofly. "You're missing a few requirements to gain knowledge of it, maybe if you were a Lopunny you might be able to fool us into thinking that you were one, but definitely not as a Gallade."

"I think there are things that we're just not meant to know Gene," Kasai said with a shake of his head.

Gene looked to his wife, who had apparently become very interested in the light fixtures. "Alright," he said finally. "So, did you guys come all this way just to talk to us?"

"Nope." Abby replied. "My mom, Kasai and I are going to Canterlot tomorrow to talk to Princess Celestia about setting up a new Ranger Union here in Equestria, minus all the bad Pokephilia laws of course, hopefully, we can find a fairly central town to set things up in... one where I won't get knocked unconscious by a brick to the head."

Belle stiffened up as she heard that, a surge of sudden anger running down her spine. "Who did what now?" She asked coldly, her eyes glowing blue at the thought of someone attacking her friend.

"Long story," Kasai began. "Don't worry Arceus already handled it,"

"That guy seems to be everywhere now," Gene noted. "And the rest of the Legendaries are about an hour some walk that way." He gestured in the general direction of the Everfree.

"Hmm, good to know... this might be a good town to set up in..." Abby mused thoughtfully. "And as an added bonus, we can be near some of my favorite friends in the world right?" she asked, nuzzling Gene and then Belle.

Gene smiled at the thought of being able to see Abby and Kasai more than once every couple of months or so. "That would be awesome," he said. "We never got to see you enough back on Earth... granted, now I know why, but still, it'd be great to have you nearby."

"Yeah, and we can introduce you to Abby's mom... well adoptive mom but it should be interesting," Kasai said with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it," Belle said. "And if you're planning to visit Princess Celestia, you might want to go see Twilight, she's a Princess too and since she lives here, she'd probably be a big help."

"Hmm, I already have an appointment thanks to Princess Luna... but a little pre-preparation can't hurt," Abby said, nodding her head with a smile. "Nice mare Luna... helped me out of a nightmare."

Belle nodded. "We know her," she said. "Turns out, she's been helping Darkrai with his... powers, so she's kinda on a whole 'nother level."

"Darkrai?" Abby inquired with a deep frown. "Huh... that is a whole 'nother level... so... other than the two of us both getting knocked up and you two getting married, what have you been getting up to without us? Also, have you seen Cynthia anywhere? Has she forgiven Kasai and I for destroying her bed?"

"Well, Cynthia performed the ceremony at our wedding," Gene said. "And she not the type to hold onto a grudge... wait, how did you... ya know what? Never mind, I don't think I want to know."

"Probably for the best," Kasai said with a chuckle.

"It was fun," Abby said with a smirk.

Belle and Gene stared at Abby for a moment before they burst out laughing, Abby never really changed did she?

* * *

Arceus sighed as he shifted through his pocket dimension. _"Let's see... art museum, art museum, statue garden, Hall of Legends,"_ he was currently trying to figure out what to do with all the knick knacks and do dads that he had picked up when he left Earth, which was a lot of art.

Number one on his list of things to get rid of, the Sea Temple.

"_I'm sure the Hippocampi will like it,"_ he said with a nod. _"Oceania did express interest in meeting Kyogre and Manaphy."_

His mind made up, Arceus opened a portal to Marelantis. Right into Oceania's bedroom.

"_Pardon the interruption your highness,"_ Arceus said as he stepped through the portal. _"But I was wondering if... are you alright?"_

Oceania was looking up at him from her bed in disbelief, her mane stuck out in several places. "It is past midnight," she stated coldly, glaring at Arceus. "Why are you in my room?"

"_Oh... apologies... I really need to get a better understanding of time,"_ the two shared a moment of awkward silence, the Arceus said. _"Anywho, I have a gift for you, if you'd take it, for being so accepting and forgiving at the World Summit."_

Oceania blinked twice. "And this couldn't have waited until morning."

Arceus said nothing, but smiled at her with his eyes.

The Hippocampi sighed. "Very well, what is it?"

Arceus widened the portal and positioned it to give Oceania a view of the Sea Temple. _"It's an ocean traveling structure that contains an artifact known as the Sea Crown and was designed to focus Kyogre and Manaphy's power to help calm the sea, and the Water Pokemon."_

"Ohh," Oceania floated over to the portal and admired the structure. "It's beautiful... and you'd just give this to us?"

"_To you more specifically,"_ Arceus said. _"Originally, a subspecies of humans called the People of the Water, chosen ones of Lord Kyogre, resided within the temple, and guarded the Sea Crown... I was wondering if the Hippocampi would like to... take up the mantle?"_

Oceania turned to Arceus. "You would entrust us with that?"

Arceus shrugged. _"The guardians of the sea are meant to have the honor of guarding the temple, unless I missed something, that title belongs to you, Queen Oceania."_

The mare smiled. "Well... I suppose so... and it is quite lovely, why don't I take a look around and see the place... perhaps Manaphy or Kyogre could show me around?"

Arceus nodded. _"As you wish, I'll contact Kyogre and Manaphy and ask them to give you a tour,"_ he smiled at her. _"I know you've been wanting to meet them."_

Oceania just smiled and watched as golden space around the Sea Temple faded and was replaced by the ocean as the temple returned to the seas.

* * *

Draco and River soared above Ponyville side by side, occasionally glancing over at each other and smiling. For flat country land, the little town had surprisingly good thermals, Draco attributed it to however the Pegasus Ponies flew and River didn't need wings to fly.

The two were having a relaxing flight, just enjoying each others company when their flight was intruded upon by an old friend.

"Draco! River! It is good to see you both again! It has been quite some time!"

Draco wobbled slightly in the air in surprise, while River twisted around to see who had spoken."Rill!" She exclaimed happily upon seeing the Shiny Flygon. "It's good to see you too... what are you doing here?"

Draco looked back and rolled his eyes, but smiled. Rill was one of Abby's Pokemon and was rather... odd, for a Flygon, or a Dragon for that matter. She never 'beat around the bush' as the humans put it. Her... candidness, was due to her rather unfortunate past. She had been part of an underground Pokemon fighting ring before Abby had rescued her, along with her Haxorus, Axle.

Draco had always found it odd so many of Abby's Pokemon came from such troubled backgrounds, but he put it out of his mind as Rill continued to speak.

"I in particular am here to see you both and inquire if you are with egg yet," Rill told River with a smile.

Draco stopped in midair, and River blushed profusely.

"As for my family in general," Rill continued without stopping. "We are here to confess that we've been Rangers all along and did not tell you because we did not want to ruin our friendships nor the protection we were providing you from the rest of the Union."

Draco and River stared at Rill for a moment. "I think," Draco began. "That we should continue this conversation on land, one more surprise out of you and I'll end up freezing up from shock." Not waiting for a reply, Draco began to descend.

"Did I say something troubling?" Rill asked with a raised eyebrow.

River, still blushing, shook her head. "Just... why don't you explain..." She realized that there probably wasn't much else to say. "Just... come on." River flew after Draco.

Once the three Dragons were back on solid ground, RIll spoke again."I thought that someone as smart as you are you had figured it out Draco," she said, tilting her head to the side. "Surely you must have found it strange that five out of six of Abby's team were damaged in some way, such as Luke's sex slavery and Axle and my own imprisonment and fighting followed by eating of other Pokemon."

Draco winced slightly as his eyes were once again drawn to the almost faded scars that criss crossed Rills body. "I did," he said with a sigh. "I just thought Abby was either always in the wrong... or right, I guess, place at the wrong-slash-right time."

"I thought she was some kind of superhero," River said honestly. "And that she rescued Pokemon wherever she went."

"Ah," Rill said frowning slightly. "Well she did do that and she did kill a man wearing a mask once after he fed her parents to his Hydreigon so I suppose that makes her a superhero... at least, if what Lex has told me about superheros is correct."

River looked at Rill in shock and Draco shook his head. "So then," he began, trying to change the subject. "Why did Abby track us down in the first place? You said she protected us from the Union."

"To judge upon whether or not Gene was raping Belle," Rill stated. "It was what she did as a human for those well known Pokephilia criminals. If she had discovered such a thing then she would have arrested him but she did not so he was not," he shiny Flygon stated as if it was obvious. "Also, are you with egg yet River? I would so very much like to be a Godmother if possible."

River blushed again. "No," she answered softly.

Rill glanced over at Draco. "Are you infertile Draco?" she asked with her usual grace and decorum, ie: none.

"I most certainly am not," Draco said indignantly, huffing and crossing his arms. To think that Rill would even suggest such a thing! Why would she just assume... _Oh right,_ Draco thought to himself. _It's Rill._

"Then why is she not with egg?" Rill asked, gesturing at River, who was doing her best to make herself invisible.

"I.. we're... but," River was having trouble putting her words together. _What's happening?_ River asked herself, sinking even lower.

Draco put a claw on River's back to comfort her. "We're taking things slow," he answered.

"Ah, slowness," Rill said, nodding her head slightly. "Lex and I take it slow as well, but I don't think we have ever drawn out mating for this long. I'm not actually sure how it is possible without you two being connected come to think of it..."

Draco had to resist the urge to facepalm. "Rill, we aren't mates yet," he explained. "We're taking our relationship slow, not the actual mating."

"Oh," Rill blinked twice. "Have you bitten her and claimed her as your own yet at the very least?"

River eeped and ducked a little lower, her face now completely red. _Please make her stop._ She thought as she hid behind Draco.

"Not yet," Draco said with a sigh. River was still rather young and sensitive, he didn't want to psych her out and he hadn't even explained to her the custom that Rill was referring to

"Whyever not? It is clear that you belong with and to each other," Rill stated with a tilt of her head. "The least you could do is bite her Draco."

At this point, _even Draco_ was blushing. "Rill, how long after you met Lex did you claim him?" He asked, referring to Rill's own mate.

"He was an Eevee at the time so I did not claim him until he had evolved," Rill said. "As for that, it was after our first flight together that I bit him."

Draco sighed, mostly because he had no real explanation. By all rights, he should have bitten River by now.

"You should bite her," Rill affirmed before glancing down at River. "He should, it is what is done, else it means that any drake could take you from him."

"I would never allow that," Draco said, growling at the thought.

"I did not think you would, I am simply explaining the rules to her," Rill said blankly. "Have I said something to upset you?"

Draco sighed and shook his head again, he never got the hang of talking to Rill, no matter how many times they spoke "Nevermind," He said.

River, still blushing, wrapped around Draco. "What's she talking about?"

Draco sighed, Gene had found River as a Dratini in the Safari Zone, alone, she had no idea where her mother had gone to and, after three days of waiting, she had asked to come with Gene. It was for that reason that the only Flygon Specific customs River knew were what Draco told her. The ones involving mating... he hadn't.

"You see River," he began. "When a Flygon wants to claim a mate, they bite them, leaving a mark that tells others that they're taken."

"Indeed, it is why Lex is missing a piece of his ear," Rill said with a nod. "Some say that it is symbolic, whatever that word means, but I just think of it as my claiming him as my own."

River glanced up at her head wings. "Um... no," Draco said, noticing her gaze. "I wouldn't have to bite part of those off, just a small bite on the back of the neck would do."

River winced slightly, then looked up at Draco. "And after that would we... would we mate?" Her blush was still lighting up her face.

"Indeed, it will be most wonderful, the orgasms that is," Rill stated, smiling. "I really would like to be the Godmother if that is possible."

River eeped again and hid her head behind Draco. "Not. Helping." He stated, glaring at Rill.

"Did I say somet-" Rill was cut off when a ribbon suddenly wrapped around her mouth.

Draco's eyes followed the ribbon back to a Sylveon walking towards them.

"Hey guys," Lex said causally to Draco and River, waving a free ribbon at them. "I see Rill has met up with you, and judging by the looks on your faces has said something to embarrass you. We'll be leaving you alone now," he smiled and gently urged Rill to follow him as he walked away.

"I wasn't embarrassing them, I was simply inquiring about Godmotherhood," Rill said as she allowed herself to be led away by Lex. A loud sigh could be heard coming out the Slyveon as the two left the River and Draco to be alone.

Draco looked down at River, she had stopped hiding and was looking up at him, her eyes wide and her face still bright red. "Draco?" she asked.

Patting her on the head, Draco said. "Only when you're ready my dear."

* * *

Twilight tapped the Thunder Stone strapped into the apparatus and nodded. "Test number three, electric current through Thunder Stone," she turned to her assistant. "You got that Spike?"

Spike nodded. "Yep... now what's the point of this experiment again?"

Twilight sighed. "Juniper and Professor Oak told me the Thunder Stone is useful in making some Electric type Pokemon Evolve," she tapped her machine with a hoof. "I want to see what happens when you run an electrical current through one."

"Why?" Spike asked.

"I want to test how good of a conductor it is," Twilight explained. "Now no more questions, just write down what I say."

Spike readied the quill and Twilight turned on the machine.

Fortunately, nothing exploded.

"Off to a good start," Twilight said with a nod, she took a look at the readings the machine was giving her, and her eyes widened. "That's... that's not possible."

"What isn't possible?" Spike asked, not believing she was doubting something after everything that had happened recently.

"The Thunder Stone... it's actually strengthening the electrical charge!" Twilight exclaimed. "The readings coming out of the stone are almost twice what went into it!"

"Cool," Spike replied nonchalantly. "What does that mean?"

"What it means Spike, is that this little rock," she turned off the machine and held the Thunder Stone up. "Stores electrical energy... or somehow strengthens the electrical energy put into it."

"That could be useful," Spike said, tapping his chin. "You think it's work as a battery?"

"Spike, if these things work right, they could be used as a source of limitless power!" Twilight exclaimed. "How can you not see how groundbreaking this is?"

Spike shrugged. "Maybe cause, and you might be forgetting this, a lot of Pokemon can produce electricity, I mean Gene has a spider that can shoot lightning."

Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "Spike... hand me a Fire Stone, I want to see how much heat it can take before melting... I may need your help with this one."


	53. Chapter 50

Mage was a ghost on a mission, the brave Mismagius was on a quest, a dangerous quest that would push her powers to their limits, a quest for l-

"I need to stop reading so many adventure novels," Mage said, shaking her head. "Makes my brain get all questy."

As it was, Mage was looking around town for Luke, Abby's Gallade and a... close friend of hers. "Step one in finding Luke whenever he vanishes," Mage reminded herself. "Make sure you're a fair distance from everyone else." Luke liked his privacy. "Step two," Mage sighed. "Follow the depression." He had a good reason.

It took Mage almost fifteen minutes to finally track Luke down, she found him in a secluded glade a fair distance from town. "Hehe, Gallade in a glade." Mage floated into the glade and found Luke sitting cross legged with his eyes shut tight, probably in an attempt to stop the tears that were leaking from his eyes.

"Luke?" Mage asked. "You okay?"

No response. Mage raised an eyebrow, then closed her eyes, using her gems to peek at Luke's emotions. _Let's see... fear, pain, definitely remembering something, curse his mental block... okay, panic, grief, yep, time to end this._

Mage floated directly in front of Luke and, tingeing her voice with a bit of empathic magic, she said waved an 'arm' in front of his face. "Yoohoo? Anybody home?"

Luke's eyes snapped open and a blue wave of energy blasted outward, causing Mage to flinch before it passed harmlessly through her body. The Gallade's hands unclenching and a staggering breath rocked his body.

_"Oh... he... hello Mage..."_ Luke said slowly, idly doing his best to wipe away the tears that were still streaming down his face._"May... may I help you?"_

Mage raised an eyebrow. Despite his mental block being stronger than, well, anything short of a Legendary, Luke couldn't hide his emotions from her, also his crying gave her a pretty good idea that something was wrong. "Just thought I'd check in on an old friend, how ya doin' Luke?" She asked suspiciously.

"_I've... I'm okay,"_ Luke said, his fingers fingering his sun patterned sweater and green and red scarf. _"Yes, I'm fine."_

"Right," Mage said, rolling her eyes. "I can sense emotions, remember?" her gems pulsed darkly. "Ya wanna try that again? Maybe with a less obvious lie this time?" Not like she had expected a straight answer anyways.

_"My feelings are my own,"_ Luke said, turning away from her and evading her question entirely.

"Yeah, but I can still feel them," Mage said. "And you're making _me_ feel depressed, which is a hard thing to do." She couldn't actually turn that ability off, normally she would ignore it but... not with Luke.

Luke bit his bottom lip. _"I'd... rather not talk about it Mage,"_ he said slowly.

Mage sighed. _Alright... time for plan B._

"Oh alright, not like I'm one to pry," she smiled at Luke. "So, how have you been lately? Fyi, Abby told me about the Ranger thing already."

_"Ah, good,"_ Luke said, smiling softly. _"And I take it that Gene and Belle took it well?"_

"Pretty much water under the bridge, Gene's not the type to hold a grudge... usually." Mage said with a shrug. _And just for the record, I don't mind either._

_"And the one case that I know of otherwise... he has a good reason for,"_ Luke agreed, nodding his head. _"I thought that things would turn out in that way... it is why I felt comfortable with meditating here... I knew that nothing bad would befall... Abby."_

Mage nodded. "Yeah, Belle was going to introduce her to Twilight, so I decided to check around for the rest of your little family." That was a lie, she had no intention of hunting down Rill, or Justice, or Axle, or Lex.

_"I see, and you found me,"_ Luke said, nodding his head faintly. _"For which I must thank you... despite my unwillingness to tell you what it is that was wrong... truly I must thank you for snapping me out of it... my fortress has become... less stable where internal threats are concerned as of late."_

"That so huh?" Mage asked, feigning confusion. "Anything in particular that might've shaken you up? I'm no Hypno, but I know a few things about the mind."

_"It is just that... things are not as they once were and that makes it... harder to ignore,"_ Luke answered haltingly.

"Ignore what?" Mage asked, currently, saying things that were different were causing an issue... wasn't that specific.

Luke's jaw hardened. _"It... the issue."_

"And the issue is..." Mage baited. "I can do this forever you know? I don't need to sleep."

Luke looked down. _"Surely you must know..."_

Mage closed her eyes for a second and concentrated. Beneath a heavy field of depression and amongst a variety of other emotions, Mage managed to pinpoint a massive reserve of love, alongside a depth of jealousy. "Hmmm... you have feelings for someone who, judging by your jealousy, is already spoken for." Mage felt an unfamiliar pain in her chest as she processed that and worked out the most likely possibilities, they just added to the pain.

_"...yes..."_ Luke stated softly, shame crossing his face.

"Okay... assuming it's someone I know, that leaves Abby and Belle, so I'm going to guess at the first one for a few more than obvious reasons." A frown crossed Mage's face as the sentence left her lips. _Arceus let me be wrong this time._

Luke's head snapped down sharply once in something like a nod.

Mage took a deep breath. "Ah, hmm, okay, not sure what to say here," Mage said, doing her best to think of something to say. "I mean it makes sense, seeing as how she saved you and all."

_"My Angel who carried me up from Hell itself..."_ Luke agreed with another nod. _"She who... who embodies good... the one being who... who I could feel even the faintest emotional... love for... in that way."_

Mage bit her lip. "Hey um... it's alright," she said. "Everyone... uh, it's not unnatural that you'd feel drawn to Abby after all of that, and that that's how you feel about love."

Luke stared at the ground. _"I. Am. Aware. However. That. Does. NOT. HELP. ME!"_ he snapped, his eyes glowing blue once more.

Mage backed up a few feet and gulped. _Where the hell is that Princess of Love when you need her?_ Mage thought to herself, honestly, having Cadence around would have made things so much easier. _Bet she never gets cold feet... hooves... I don't have... moving on._

Luke looked down and the power faded. _"Apologies, Mage, I did not mean to... snap at you."_

Mage sighed and smiled softly. "Don't worry about it," she said, shaking her head. "If I'm going to prod at you, I should at least be able to give you some real advice."

Luke just shook his head. _"It... is fine Mage... it will pass... I'm sure of it. It is just... hard now that she is a Pokemon as well... as a human I could suppress it, despite the fact that Kasai's musk on her made me quake with silent rage. It's just..."_ he shook his head. _"I'm an awful Pokemon... I didn't deserve my rescue..."_ As Luke talked about his past, Mage felt something bubbling up inside her, something that snapped when Luke said. _"I should never have left the pleasure d-"_

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" She shouted, her voice eyes glowing bright yellow and her voice developing an ethereal echo. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU FEEL TOWARDS ABBY! DON'T YOU EVER. _EVER_! SO MUCH AS THINK THAT AGAIN! YOU ARE A WONDERFUL POKEMON AND YOU IN NO WAY DESERVED THAT HELL!" As Mage finished, she felt the rage bubble back down, panting slightly, she looked down at Luke and noticed he had flinched back. _I didn't mean to scare him but... damnit, I can't stand when he talks like that._

Tapping on his knees anxiously, Luke continued. _"But... she deserves so much better from me... instead of being happy for her... I... I'm angry at my friend Kasai because... because he has the one who should be mine..."_ he trailed off. _"I would be better off there... where I had never known love at all."_

_Or maybe try for someone who will love you back,_ Mage thought to herself. Mage closed her eyes. "No one deserves that. No one deserves to be treated like they're worthless. No one." Her eyes snapped open. "Especially not someone as sweet and caring as you."

_"I was not worthless... I was worth whatever they thought I was..."_ Luke said softly, looking away. _"And that is all I've ever been worth."_

Mage glared at Luke, doing her best to mask the pain she felt... his pain. "Luke," she said. "You are a wonderful young Gallade, you're just feeling jealous, that's no reason to condemn yourself, trust me."

_"I just... I'm not worthy of her..."_ Luke said quietly. _"Not when she has an amazing mate like Kasai... not when she has been through so much..."_

Mage sighed, she needed to make Luke see that he wasn't worthless, that he shouldn't give up that she...

"Luke," Mage began. "When Gene first found me, I was haunting a library. I'd been there for months, just reading and scaring the living daylights out of anyone who saw me," she shook her head, back then, she had been trying to find a nice quiet place to stay,and a library had seemed perfect. "I had no idea why he was so set on catching me, especially since it took him more than a week," she chuckled, then frowned. "I didn't know why he bothered until he finally did. Turns out, the library had gone and hired an exorcist, since they didn't want any trainers messing up their books." she shook her head. "For a week, I did nothing but torment and prank the boy who wanted nothing more than to save me, and you know what he said when I asked him why?"

_"Because he didn't want to see you get hurt,"_ Luke answered.

Mage nodded. "He said he didn't think anyone deserved something like that. He said that it was something he knew he had to do and he said," Mage's voice cracked a little. "He said he did it... because I was worth it." She didn't tell a lot of people that story, it always made her... uncomfortable, to think about how close she came to death.

Luke was silent for a moment before Mage felt his psychic power wrap around her and give her a light hug. _"I am sorry for involving you in this Mage, for making you remember such things..."_ he shook his head. _"I know that Abby would still love me as a family member if I told her because that is who she is and that is one of the reasons why I love her... I long ago came to the conclusion that I wanted my beloved to be happy rather than myself... it is just that here in Equestria... with her as a Ninetales... it is harder to squash those feelings of love and lust within me..."_

Mage sighed. "Luke, you might not believe me when I say this, but I know that you'll find peace," she smiled softly. "Maybe you'll even find a girl to call your own."

_"I... rather doubt it,"_ Luke said quietly, Mage frowned. _"Abby is the only person I've ever felt a shred of... love for in that way..."_

Mage winced.

"_It was not just men who purchased me. Women did as well... I... Abby is the only one who I will ever love..."_

_Ouch._

"_And if I must live through hell again because of it... then she is worth it... for she saved me from my first."_

Mage bit her lip and held back some tears before gingerly wrapped her tendrils around Luke, keeping them intangible so he wouldn't snap but hoping the gesture would mean something. "Just try to keep an open mind," she said hopefully. "Love has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it."

Luke nodded his head ever so slightly. _"I shall try Mage... so long as you are not attempting to seduce me,"_ he said, a small, wry smile crossing his face as he looked up at her.

Mage gazed up at Luke and laughed nervously. "Heheh yeah... I'd never do that."

Luke let out a small mental chuckle and rose back to his feet. _"Thank you for the talk Mage... it was good talking of my problem..."_

"Any time Luke," she said with a nod. _I'll be here._

The Gallade nodded in reply. _"I should probably get back to Scarlet now..."_

"Who?" Mage asked.

_"Scarlet, Unova's resident Top Ranger and Abby's adoptive mother,"_ Luke answered simply.

Mage nodded. "Right... mind if I tag along? I kinda wanna meet her."

Luke blinked twice and then nodded. _"Sure, I doubt she'd mind greatly."_

Mage smiled. "Great, lead the way."

* * *

Twilight nodded as she set the last piece of her latest... contraption, in place. Basically, she had tied a piece of rope to a hammer and set it so that, when the rope was cut, the hammer would swing down and smash the Dusk Stone she'd placed beneath it.

"I know I said it before, but I'm going to say it again," Spike said from behind a barrier made out of a table. "This is a really bad idea."

"Spike, I've noted your objections in my notes," Twilight said as she trotted behind the barrier. "And I promise it'll be fine."

"That's what you said about the Fire Stone, and it burned a hole through the floor."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Hazards are just part of the fun of science Spike," she declared, her horn lighting up. "Besides, the best results are the most visible and because of the fact that it burned a hole through the floor, the Fire Stone showed us just how hot it can become when put under the right type of pressure."

"Twi... it almost melted through my _scales_ before I dropped it," Spike pointed out, clearly still miffed about the event.

"I apologized for that, and promised to give you extra gems later.," Twilight pointed out. "Now get ready to record the results."

Spike sighed, but readied the quill.

Twilight's horn lit up and a knotted portion of the rope glowed purple before coming undone, the hammer swung downwards and-

*clink*

The Dusk Stone didn't break, from the looks of it, it didn't even crack. "Well that's disappointing," Twilight pouted. "Write down that the hammer was swung with insufficient force to shatter the stone."

Spike did as he was asked. "So, what now?"

Twilight thought for a moment, then smiled, lighting up her horn again, she lifted the hammer off the ground and floated it up to the ceiling. "Ready?" She asked with a grin.

"No," Spike gulped and ducked.

Twilight let the hammer fall, it picked up speed, on a crash course for the-

*Pmfph*

Twilight blinked once and surveyed her lab, everything exposed, including the walls and the ceiling, was coated in a fine black powder.

Spike peeked out from behind the table. "I am _not_ cleaning this up," he stated.

Twilight chuckled. "Well... I'll get a broom... or maybe a mop... first I should take some sample though, maybe every three feet from where the stone was..."

"Twilight?" Juniper suddenly called from the top of the stairs. "Belle's here and she brought..." the Beheeyem blinked as she surveyed the lab, her eyes narrowed on Twilight. "You just had to see for yourself, didn't you?"

Twilight laughed nervously. "I'll... be up in a second." She turned and smiled at Spike.

"You can leave, but I'm still not cleaning this up," he stated firmly, crossing his arms.

Twilight sighed. "Fine," she teleported to the top of the stairs, one of the few places not covered in... whatever it was that had come from the Dusk Stone. "I'll be back down soon, just... wait there."

As Twilight and Juniper left the lab, Spike realized that, unless he wanted to walk around in the shadowy substance, then he was pretty much stuck in one place. "TWILIGHHHT!" Spike shouted dramatically at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Twilight closed the door to her thankfully soundproof lab and smiled at the Ninetales Juniper had told her was Abby. "Hello," she greeted. "You're Abby right? Nice to meet you, I'm Twilight."

"Abby Trombley," Abby said, smiling at Twilight. "Before we get started I need to ask Juniper a question."

"I'm always willing to hear a question," Juniper answered, smiling back at Abby. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Okay..." Abby let out a breath as she formulated just the right way to ask her question. "Alright, so, I'm pregnant and I'm going to be giving birth to an egg sometime this week we think. However, I'm also a really horny woman trapped in the body of a _very_ horny Pokemon and with Kasai being just as eager as I am, unless we can find some kind of birth control we're going to be up to our heads in eggs and kits... can you help Professor?" Abby inquired hopefully.

Twilight's face lit up like a bonfire. _Why would she... I mean of course... couldn't she have... no, those only work for mares..._

While Twilight stood there, partially catatonic, Juniper tapped her chin, ignoring the scarlet blush on her friends face. "I haven't heard of anything like that," she said apologetically. "I suppose Professor Elm might know something on the subject, his research focused on Pokemon reproduction, but I don't know where he is."

Abby frowned. "Oh well... it was a small hope anyways... guess Kasai and I are just going to have to get used to using our tongues, eh Belle?" she asked, glancing up at the Gardevoir.

Belle frowned as well, she hadn't really considered that, and she assumed Gene hadn't either.

Twilight managed to get her brain back in working order so she could offer a piece of advice. "Um... I might know someone who can help."

"You do?" Abby asked, her smile returning as she glanced at Twilight.

"Yeah," Twilight said with a nod. "My friend Bio Chem is a geneticist, he lives up in Canterlot and I know he's been researching Pokemon recently, he might be able to help."

"Hmm... I'll have to visit him after I'm done talking to Princess Celestia," Abby mused to herself before leaning over and licking Twilight's face. "Thanks a bunch Princess Twilight!"

Twilight blushed again and wiped the slobber from her face. "Happy to help," she said. "Now Juniper said you wanted to know about Equestrian law?"

Abby nodded her head. "Yes, yes I do, as a Pokemon Ranger who wants to re-establish the Ranger Union I need to know each and every law that could possibly come up during a case... especially if we're going to be a fairly independent organization like the old Rangers."

Twilight frowned slightly. "The last guy who had an idea like that was Professor Hastings," Twilight said, shaking her head, she_really_ didn't want to think about him.

"Yeah, he's my boss," Abby answered with a sigh. "My very well meaning... but completely off base, boss who just so happens to be as stubborn as a sleeping Snorlax in the middle of a highway."

"I noticed," Twilight said with a frown. Turning away from Abby, she floated a few books down to her. "Let's see, these should cover the basics," Twilight set three of the largest books in front of Abby. "Where did you want to start?"

"Wherever you think is best, they're not my laws just yet," Abby answered, smiling at Twilight, not seeming the least bit put off by the massive books stacked in front of her. "Just so long as I don't look like an idiot in front of Princess Celestia tomorrow, oh, and that reminds me, can you send her a message along with sending Princess Luna one saying that I say 'hi'?"

"Sure thing, as soon as Spike... finishes up downstairs, I'll send them a letter," she looked at the law books and sighed. "Well first off, you should probably know all laws were expanded at the World Summit to include Pokemon along with the other citizens of Equus."

"The who-what now?" Abby asked, looking at Twilight blankly. "I must have missed that on the train ride here."

"Oh, basically the rulers of every country on the planet, along with Lord Arceus and their royal advisors, met and talked about what to do about the Pokemon," Twilight explained. "Aside from some of the more stubborn rulers, it was mostly just figuring out what to do if this happens, or how we're going to deal with that."

"Ah, okay, that makes sense," Abby said, nodding her head. "So, what laws did you decide on?"

"Preventing abuse and prejudice, as well as more violent crimes," Twilight said. "If what Juniper's told me is true, Equestria and Earth have a lot of the same laws actually."

"Really?" Abby asked, cocking her head to the side. "That's good... though hopefully we won't have the same problems we did on Earth... I really don't want to find any more Sex Rings or Fighting Rings here being run by ponies..." she trailed off, a very low growl emerging from her throat.

Twilight shuddered. "Probably not," Twilight said. "Both of those are illegal, and have been mostly worldwide since the first world summits a few hundred years ago." _I'll have to ask Gene or Belle about her later, the fact that she immediately focused on those... on second thought, maybe I won't ask._

Abby nodded her head with a small smile. "Good, what about prostitution?"

Twilight shook her head and sighed. "It's illegal, but in big cities like Manehattan and Las Pegasus it does happen," Twilight admitted sadly. "I'm not sure about other countries, but in Equestria, the local police do their best to keep a handle on it."

"Okay, just checking all my bases, I know I've arrested a few idiots who tried passing off their Lopunnys or Blazikens off as prostitutes to get around the law..." Abby muttered, shaking her head.

"I'll include a note to the Princess to put a warning out to the city police forces to be on the look out for anything like that," Twilight replied. _Though it's unlikely a pony could force a Pokemon to do... that, all things considered._

"Thanks," Abby said, nodding her head. "Okay then, what about arrest procedure..."

* * *

Rarity smiled as she took a small bite of her daffodil sandwich. "I must admit darling," she said to the colt who sat beside her. "When you first suggested this picnic, I was unsure, but I must say this is lovely."

Keldeo smiled. _"Thanks Rarity... but really it was Virizion's idea."_ He looked around at the spot they'd chosen for the picnic, they were beneath a shaded tree in the park.

Rarity chuckled softly. "Well then, you'll just have to invite her over next time you visit so I can meet her."

"_You want to... meet Virizion?"_ Keldeo asked nervously. _"I mean... why not, I'm sure she'd love to meet you."_

"Splendid!" Rarity said with a smile. "She seemed like such a nice... mare... doe... umm..."

Keldeo chuckled at Rarity's apparent confusion, earning him a soft swat on the arm. "Well, it's hardly my fault if you Pokemon don't stick to a singular term," Rarity huffed.

Keldeo laughed a little bit more, causing Rarity to smile slightly. _"Usually when they want a blanket term, everymon just says female, or girl... though Virizion's not a 'girl' and woman is a human term... hmm."_

While Keldeo thought on this dilemma, Rarity pulled a bottle of (non-alcoholic) sparkling grape cider from the picnic basket, as well as a pair of wine glasses. "Care for a drink Keldeo?" Rarity asked, pouring herself and Keldeo a glass.

Keldeo looked at the glass nervously for a second, then sighed. _"Sure."_

Rarity smiled and passed Keldeo the glass, then she looked back at him as she heard a clink of glass. Keldeo was using one of his front hooves to hold the glass on his other front hoof.

"Oh Keldeo dear, I am so sorry, I forgot that-"

"_It's alright,"_ he said, a look of determination on his face. _"I've got this."_ He slowly began to move the glass towards his mouth.

"Are you certain?" Rarity asked, watching him nervously. "Because I wouldn't mind-"

"_Nah, I'm good,"_ Keldeo assured her as the glass reached his lips and he took a small sip. _"See? I told-"_ The glass slipped off of Keldeo's hoof, and while it didn't shatter, most of the cider spilled out onto the ground, with a small amount splashing onto Keldeo's face. _"Oh."_

Rarity giggled softly and Keldeo blushed. "Oh don't worry Keldeo," Rarity said with a smile and a laugh. "We all have our little accidents."

Keldeo grumbled to himself as Rarity pulled a napkin from the basket. "Now hold still for a moment." Rarity leaned forward, eyeing Keldeo's cider stained coat and wet the napkin with her tongue before scrubbing the spot. "There," she said after a moment. "All cleaned off and..." Rarity noticed that Keldeo was staring at her. "What?" She asked, tilting her head. "Do I have something on my face?"

Keldeo chuckled softly. _"No,"_ he said with a smile. _"It's just..."_

"Just what darling?" Rarity asked.

"_You have such beautiful eyes,"_ Keldeo said softly.

Rarity blushed softly and smiled. "Um, Keldeo, that is… That's very sweet of you Keldeo."

Keldeo smiled and leaned forward, quickly kissing Rarity on the cheek. _"It's the truth, I just happened to notice it."_

Rarity sat there for a moment, her eyes wide, before she smiled slowly. "Never the less, it was a very nice compliment," Rarity pulled a second sandwich from the picnic basket with her magic. "Now, would you care for a bite? This is a picnic darling, and you haven't had a bite to eat yet." She pouted falsely, electing a laugh from Keldeo, one which Rarity returned.

As Rarity passed Keldeo his sandwich, she scooted a tiny bit closer to him, just a small distance, she might not have even noticed herself, but they were still closer than they had been but a moment before.


	54. Chapter 51

It had been some time since Spike had last hung out with the Training Dragon club. For one thing, with the World Summit and the wedding he had been busy, and he was still a _little_ worried that they would try to get him to fight again.

So he was slightly nervous as he walked into the clearing Fluttershy told him they were training in.

"Spike!" He wasn't expecting to get tackled to the ground by Gible. "Fluttershy said you were back, but we hadn't seen you!"

Spike pushed Gible off of him and looked around the clearing. Bagon, Dratini, and Axew were all making their way over. From the look of things, Bagon and Dratini had been battling before Spike had shown up.

"Good to see you again Spike!" Bagon said with a grin, walking up to Spike and slapping him on the back. "And sorry about what happened last time."

"It's alright," he said with a shrug, rubbing his shoulder. "And sorry for, you know, running off and having Blaziken scare you."

"Pff, we weren't scared," Bagon said, waving off the accusation. "The Training Dragon Club is never scared!"

"Really? Cause when he showed up you-"

Bagon grabbed Spike's face and looked him right in the eyes. "Never. Scared." Bagon held Spike for a few seconds to get the point across, the let him ago. "So Spike, what brings you by?" He smiled. "You finally decide you wanna battle?"

Spike shook his head. "No, I just really needed to get out of the house, Twilight's been testing a bunch of different Stones in the basement and I had enough once she smashed a Water Stone and caused a flood."

"Who in their right mind would smash a Water Stone?" Dratini asked, concerned.

"I've been asking myself that question all day," Spike said with a sigh.

The Dragon types all laughed. "Well Spike," Axew began. "You're welcome to hang out with us for however long you want."

"Yeah, we were just about done with battling anyway," Dratini said with a smile.

"You guys don't have to stop on my account," Spike said. "Really."

"In that case, Axew! Come on! You're fighting me next!" Bagon ran ahead and stood waiting for Axew to face him.

Axew smiled and went after him, while Spike, Dratini and Gible sat down to watch. "So... why do you guys fight each other so much anyway?" Spike asked.

"So we can Evolve," Gible stated.

"Okay, but _why_ do you want to Evolve so badly?"

Gible and Dratini stared at him in disbelief. "Why wouldn't we?!" Gible exclaimed. "It's our right of passage, a significance of our power! Our growth! Plus..." she grinned widely, which kinda disturbed Spike. "I'm gonna look so much more awesome as a Garchomp!"

Dratini nodded. "She's right... well on her first few points anyway... and yeah, we do kinda get cooler when we Evolve."

"So... it's like growing up?" Spike asked.

"It's not _like_ growing up," Gible said. "It _is_ growing up... for Pokémon at least."

"It's just how we grow," Dratini said, moving her body in what Spike assumed was a serpentine shrug. "Unlike humans... and ponies, I guess, Pokémon enter different stages of their life through Evolution."

"So what?" Spike asked, trying to clarify some things. "You can't become adults until you Evolve? Or you actually don't physically age until you Evolve?"

Gible laughed. "The first, we still age, but we're gonna be treated like kids unless we Evolve."

"Oooh, alright," Spike said with a nod.

"You seriously thought we might not age?" Dratini asked, stifling a laugh.

"Hey, I know next to nothing about Pokémon biology," Spike defended.

Gible and Dratini laughed.

"What's so funny?" Axew asked, popping up in front of them. "Oh no! Did I miss a joke?"

"No," Dratini said, rolling her eyes. "We were just talking with Spike."

"Talking," Bagon, bruised and tired, said before lying down next to them. "That sounds good, as long as it's quiet."

Gible chuckled. "Nice work Axew."

"Aw, go on," he looked at her expectantly. "No... seriously... I totally deserve to be praised."

Gible rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah," she pulled him to the ground. "Sit down ya glory hog."

Spike laughed. "Hey, I wanted to ask how you guys knew each other back on Earth? I mean I'm assuming you did, and you said something about a Dragon's Den when we first met."

Bagon smiled. "That Spike, is a grand tale of adventure, action, and-"

"The Dragon's Den was the base of operations for the Dragon Trainer's society," Dratini said with a smile. "It was where the Masters met and the Trainees trained and the initiates got their Pokémon, which is what we were for."

"Dratini," Bagon whined. "You interrupted my monologue," he crossed his arms. "I've been working on our group monologue for weeks."

Dratini giggled. "Sorry Bagon."

He sighed. "It's okay," his frown turned into a smile. "So yeah, we lived in the Dragon's Den, where the Trainee's took care of us and we trained until we were old enough to get a Trainer and go on an adventure."

"What's with all the adventures?" Spike asked. "I mean you guys, Gene, is it like a tradition or something?"

"It is!" Axew said. "Once they reach the age of ten, or like sixteen in some Regions I think, a human gets their first Pokémon and they can go on their Journey!"

"I heard from one of the older Dragonairs that it helps the human find what they want to do with their life," Dratini said. "Like be a police officer, or try for the Champion position or Elite Four or something like that."

Spike stared at her in disbelief. "They let ten year olds have creatures that could probably level a building and then let them go explore the world unsupervised?"

Bagon closed his eyes and stroked his chin. "Yep," he opened his eyes and smiled. "That sounds about right, why'd you ask?"

Spike was about to say how insane that was, but he just stared at them, wondering how they _couldn't_ see it. "Just forget it," he said, laying back in the grass, trying to keep his mind off of how positively INSANE Earth was.

"Okay," Axew said. "Well Spike, since you asked us, where do you come from? Aside from living in a Treebary."

"I knew people called it that!" Spike gloated. "Twilight owes me five bits." The Dragons all laughed. "Well," Spike began. "I was hatched in Canterlot, that's the big city over there," he pointed to the silhouette of Canterlot up on the mountain. "Twilight hatched me, so once I was old enough, the Princess gave me to her as her personal assistant."

"Like how we were going to be given to Trainers as their Pokémon?" Bagon asked.

Spike was about to protest, then realized that it was kinda similar. "Well... it's more of a partnership." Spike nodded, glad he had closed that subject.

"Um...that's what the first Pokémon a Trainer gets is called," Dratini said, looking worriedly at Spike. "A Partner Pokémon."

Spike's eyes widened and he sat up. "W-well I'm her number one assistant," he said, nodding again.

"A Partner Pokémon is _usually_ a trainers go to Pokémon," Bagon said. "Not always, but usually."

"Well... it's not like she has me attack others and traps them in balls!" Spike shouted frantically. "I mean, yeah she orders me around sometimes, and sometimes I do get hurt, but it's not like that."

Gible raised an eyebrow was about to say it certainly _seemed_ like that, but Bagon pinched her mouth shut. "I think Spike is having an existential crisis... we should, you know, be supportive, not prod him about it."

Gible blinked, then nodded. "Don't worry Spike," she said, breaking away from Bagon. "I'm sure Twilight doesn't see you like that."

"R-right," Spike said, nodding. "I'm her friend first, her assistant second."

"That's how-" Axew was cut off as Bagon put a claw over his mouth.

"So Spike," Bagon said. "Why don't you tell us about Ponyville? Maybe show us around a bit?"

"Well, I guess I can, if you guys want to."

The Training Dragon Club nodded.

"Alright," Spike said with a smile. "Follow me then."

As Spike led the Dragon types into town, he found that he couldn't stop smiling. _You know, I think I actually like hanging out with these guys,_ he thought to himself. _At least more so than I did the Crusaders that one time,_ Spike shuddered. _Never again._

* * *

Iris sighed as she looked down at the boulder in front of her. Yesterday, after Twilight and the others got back to Ponyville, they had told her about what had happened, and she was slightly surprised to hear that Ash was here (that he was this close to Ponyville, not that he was in Equus, since she honestly couldn't think of anyone more worthy of being brought here). So with that in mind, she was on her way to see her old friend, but had stopped to practice a bit with her blades. So far the results had been... less than satisfying. "I know they're supposed to be cleaner than this," she said, shaking her head and putting a claw on her hip as she stared down at the boulder she had cut in two. "I've seen it, but what the heck am I doing wrong?"

Iris sighed and was going to head off, get back to her problem later, when she heard a loud roar from behind her. She whirled around, her eyes widening as another Haxorus ran straight at her.

_Crap!_ Iris thought, she knew how territorial some Dragons could get, and this one was male, which didn't make things any better.

However, Iris' concerns proved invalid as the Haxorus ran past her avoiding her tail as he leapt over it and came down, axehead slashing straight through the center of the boulder. The boulder, cut cleanly in two, fell apart.

"And _that_ is the proper form for boulder slicing," the Haxorus said with a grin.

Iris stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "What the heck?" she asked. "I thought you were going to attack me."

"Without first challenging you?" The Haxorus asked with a shake of his head. "No, I was simply showing you how to execute a proper cut, you must put your heart into it! Scream and roar out in passion as you split your foe! Laugh as their dusty blood falls across your face! Stomp as their pathetic stone corpse falls to the side, defeated and worthless to you."

Iris flinched backwards. "Sheesh that's gruesome," she said, shaking her head. "And I raised a Hydreigon." That actually meant nothing, Iris' Hydreigon was a rather nice 'mon.

"I decapitated all three heads of one once," He replied with a smile. "That was a good battle, wonderful revenge for Abby's family."

Iris rubbed her neck. "Uh huh," She shook her head. "Who are you?"

"My name is Axle, my trainer's name is Abby Trombley if that means anything to you," Axle stated with a shrug.

Iris rubbed her chin, wondering where she had heard that name, then snapped her claws as she remembered. "Cynthia told me about her, said she was a Ranger who helped out Gene and Belle."

"Yes, that's Abby," Axle agreed, nodding his axehead. "And what I said was true about your cuts, they're sloppy because you're not putting your heart into them. Feel the bloodrage."

Iris rolled her eyes, that sounded like something she would hear from a rampaging Dragon back on Earth... well, she assumed it was, if she had understood them. "Yeah, well, I'm new to this, usually I'm the one giving the order to attack, not dishing them out," she shook her head again. "I'm Iris by the way."

"The Champion?" Axle inquired with a frown.

"Champion, Dragonmaster, yep, that's me." She looked down at her claws and squinted. "I'm a Shiny Haxorus now."

"And that is an excuse for bad form?" Axle asked before shaking his head. "Of course it isn't! As a Haxorus fighting is everything! You must _feel_ your blood pumping through your head, _savor_ the feeling of adrenaline rushing through your body, _anticipate_ the victory that you, and only YOU can gain over your opponents!"

Iris blinked twice. "Wow," she said in shock. "You are literally _nothing_ like my Haxorus, and I mean at all. I shouldn't be surprised, Shauntal has a Cofagrigus that plays chess, but really."

"It comes from being originally raised in captivity for use as an arena fighter where we killed our opponents and ate them if we expected to eat at all," Axle apparently missed Iris' jaw dropping. "But that still does not excuse your poor form! You are a Haxorus now Iris! You must uphold our standard and at the moment, I have seen Axew with more blood than you!"

Iris did her best to ignore that first part and formed a response. "Yeah well, I guess Haxorus did usually roar before she attacked," she shrugged. "So thanks for the advice, I guess." She never really thought about why Pokémon always roared when they attacked before

"You are welcome!" Axle said with a grin before he gestured at the boulder, or at least a side of it that wa less sloppily cut to pieces. "Now attack! Put your heart into it so called Champion! Make this piece of stone rue the day that it met you as you carve it into little pebbles! Stomp it into the dust for every insulting cut you have given it! Grind its dust into grit and then wear it proudly upon your scales!"

Iris stared at Axle in disbelief, then at the boulder. "Ookay," she was considering running, this guy was kinda freaking her out._Pretty sure this isn't how they all talked... Belle translated a few times so I know it's not how my team talked._

"With confidence! Feel the RAGE pumping through you!" Axle roared at her.

"I'm not really an angry person," Iris said with a shrug.

"THEN YOU'RE NOT A HAXORUS!" Iris flinched back as Axle's voice echoed through the clearing. "ARE YOU A DRATINI? CUT THE ROCK!"

"Okay! Okay!" Iris help up her arms. "Just don't do that again." Positioning herself in front of the boulder, Iris closed her eyes. She'd seen this kind of thing done a millions times before, she'd ordered it done a thousand times before.

She took a deep breath and, channeling all her energy into the chop, she yelled. "RAAHHHH!" Cutting the boulder cleanly in two.

"HAHAHAHHA! YES! CAN YOU FEEL IT?!" Axle shouted to her, a giant grin on his face.

Iris admired her handiwork, the cut wasn't exactly perfect, but it was much neater than her last few attempts. "Huh, would ya look at that," she said with a smile. "Thanks for your help Axle."

Axle grinned and walked up to her, slamming his hand against her back. "It was no trouble! You just have to find your inner dragon, Champion! Ride that dragon! Become that dragon! Overwhelm all who oppose you and grind their bones to dust beneath your rage!"

Iris raised an eyebrow. "Do you... do you always talk like that?" She asked, rubbing her back where he'd slapped her.

"No, sometimes I am asleep," Axle replied, remembering a quip that Lex had stabbed him with.

"Right," Iris said, rolling her eyes. "Well, anyway, I promised I'd go catch up with some friends later today so I'm just gonna go now."

"Ah, alright, I shall fight you later then," Axle said with a nod of his head. "Remember! Channel your fury and make it a blade that can crash through mountains!"

"Uh huh, I'll do that... wait, did you say fight me?!" She asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Yes of course, why do you think I was here in the first place?" Axle inquired, tilting his head to the side. "I came here seeking a fight and thought there was a worthy opponent to be found here. Sadly, I was mistaken. At the moment, you are hardly worth my time as far as a fight goes. It is actually kind of sad, I was looking forwards to fighting another Haxorus."

Iris grimaced at that, she wasn't sure whether to be relieved, or offended, so she settled with disgruntled. "Well when I find mine, I'll let you know. But I'm not letting you near my Hydreigon."

"In my defense, it did eat Abby's parents and was deserving of the tri-decapitation," Axle defended himself, harrumphing once. "I don't decapitate everyone I meet, only the bastards."

Iris flinched again, then sighed. "Fine, I guess it did deserve that." Pokémon like that were the reason a lot of people feared Dragons.

"It did," Axle said with a nod of his head. "Now, didn't you have somewhere to be?"

"Right," Iris remembered. "Gotta go meet up with him, see you later, I guess." Iris walked off, heading deeper into the forest to where Ash was supposedly staying. "That was... strange," Iris said to herself. "He's certainly... different... eh, I've dealt with worse Dragons," Iris chuckled. "At least _he's_ not tearing down building or trying to eat people."

* * *

Misty enjoyed that being able to spend time with Ash again, he was one of her best friends and she _really_ wanted him to be more than that.

None of these points were supported when Misty plopped down behind a couple of trees to get away from him.

"Arceus I like him, but how can anyone be so dense?" Misty asked herself. No matter how much Misty flirted with Ash, not an easy thing to do in a body that was at least half fish, or tried to get him to talk about romance, he just didn't seem to get it.

"Or he's just ignoring me," Misty said with a sigh. "Maybe he already found someone and doesn't know how to break the news to me."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much," a soft, feminine voice chimed in. Misty looked up to see a Meganium settle beside her. "Ashy... Ash has drawn several girls attention, but he's never returned the feelings," the Grass types antenna drooped. "Trust me." She said with a soft sigh.

Misty blinked in confusion, then her eyes widened in realization. "Bayleef?"

The Meganium smiled softly at her. "No ones called me that in years," she leaned down and nuzzled Misty softly. "It's good to see you again Misty."

Misty looked at Meganium in disbelief. "You too Bay... Meganium," she said, shaking her head. "Um... how much of what I said did you hear?"

Meganium chuckled. "Enough to know somebody is crushing hard on my trainer~" she prodded Misty.

"Last I remember, so where you," Misty said, rolling her eyes.

Meganium sighed again. "Yeah... I was."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Was?"

"It's... it's a long story, one you'll probably understand," Meganium began. "Back when you were with us and Ash first caught me... well he was nicer to me than anyone else had ever been before," Misty sighed, growing up 'the plain one' with three absolutely gorgeous sisters had given her a good taste of that. "Which is why I... I..." it was Meganium's turn to sigh. "Which was why I like him. And I realized Ash was kinda... really really dense. So I tried being painfully obvious in what I was trying to do."

Misty chuckled, remembering all the times Bayleef had tackled Ash to the ground.

"But after he made it through the Jhoto Region..." Bayleef's antenna dropped again. "H-he just... left me at the lab, and yeah all the other Pokémon were nice, and I got to see Tracey and Mr. Oak and Mrs. Ketchum but..." she sniffed. "I really wanted to see him."

Misty frowned as she recognized Meganium's words. "I know how you feel," Misty often felt the same way about Ash.

Meganium nodded, then perked up slightly. "B-but I got to see him at the Sinnoh League! He had Mr. Oak send me and some of the others over... but he never used me," Meganium sniffled again. "W-we trained a little, then he put me in my Pokeball, and the next time I came out, I was back at the lab after he lost."

Misty frowned. "But what about after he became a Frontier Brain? He took you and all the others with him, even Squirtle and Charizard."

Meganium sighed. "After the Sinnoh League... I did some thinking, a lot of thinking really, I guess after a while, a _long_ while, I realized that... Ash wasn't the kind of guy I really wanted," she looked down at Misty and frantically added. "Don't get me wrong, Ash is an amazing guy, he's kind, and caring, and friendly... but I wanted someone who would be there for me and listen to what I had to say."

"And Ash still needed to settle down," Misty added.

Meganium nodded, then laughed. "I can't even tell you how many Frontier Trainers he made wait because he was off on an adventure those first few months... well years really... he kept leaving the compound, whether it was a mission from Brandon or just something interesting he wanted to see."

Misty laughed. "That certainly sounds like Ash." She tilted her head and looked up at Meganium in curiousity. "But... did he change?"

Meganium sighed. "He slowed down, he never had a problem listening to us when it came to battles, or something we needed to show him, but when it came to our feelings..."

"He thought psychology was a Pokémon," Misty remembered.

Meganium chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, it was different with Pikachu and sometimes he was spot on, and he _did_ get better but," Meganium hung her head. "I... I guess I grew out of it, I realized he would never return my feelings so I moved on."She shrugged. "I didn't want to get hurt anymore."

"Oh," Misty said in surprise, she had half expected to have to fight Meganium for Ash or something. "Well... good for you!... Who's the lucky mon?"

Meganium laughed. "Move on as in 'stop trying to get Ash', I don't have a mate or anything like that."

"Oh," Misty said again. "Sorry."

"Meh, not your fault," Meganium looked down at Misty for a moment, then lifted her up to eye level with her vines. "Anyway, I know you want Ash. Bad."

Misty blushed.

"And I honestly think that you two would make a cute couple... if you can get him to understand what that means," she added the last part under her breath. "And since I know _you_ won't just use him like some of those girls who showed up in the Frontier-"

"Meganium, did you scare off any girls who you didn't think would be good for Ash?" Misty asked.

"Not important... it was only the bad ones. And since I know you're not like them, you have my blessing." Meganium hugged Misty against her chest with her vines.

"Thanks," Misty said, rolling her eyes. "I already got Delia's approval, good to know the closest thing Ash has to an Ex approves to."

"I'm going to ignore that snark, and instead offer some advice," Meganium looked Misty dead in the eyes. "You. Have. To. Be. Dir-Ect. With. Him. Otherwise. You'll. Get. Nowhere. Understand?"

Misty stared at Meganium for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah, I get it."

"Good, then you won't be mad at me for this next part."

"What next-AHH!" Apparently the 'next part' involved flinging Misty back into the clearing. "WHHHYYY?!"

Misty landed with a thud, thankfully she landed on grass. Unfortunately, she ended up sitting on her tail. REALLY unfortunately, she landed directly in front of Ash.

"Oh hey Misty," Ash said, seemingly unphased by the fact Misty had literally just feel from the sky. "What's up?"

Misty gulped. This was it. It was time. No more procrastinating. No more reason to hide. _Time to put my soul on display,_ "Ash, I l-"

"ASHY!"

Misty and Ash turned in time to see a red blur shoot towards them, Ash let out a quick scream as the red blur grabbed him and exited the clearing via tearing a hole through the canopy.

Misty, and anyone else nearby, stared in disbelief. "I... I... I... I... I..." Misty stammered.

"Hey Misty," Iris waved as she walked into the clearing. "You know where Ash is? I wanted to say hi, see if I can give him a scare."

"WAAAAHHHHHHH!" Misty collapsed to the ground. "WHHHHHYYY!? WHY ARCEUS WHY!?"

Iris took a step back and looked around. "Was... was it something I said."


	55. Chapter 52

No one could say Ash Ketchum was a stranger to the unusual or dangerous.

He had fought just about every Pokemon that came to mind when someone said. 'I wouldn't want to be the guy fighting THAT!' He had met and even befriended some of the most powerful creatures on the planet. He had even saved the planet on more than one occasion. Heck, he was probably one of the only people on the planet who had spent time as a Pokemon BEFORE the transfer.

So, when he was suddenly scooped out of the clearing he had set up camp in and carried into the sky, he reacted with the calm demeanor of someone who had stared death in the face on multiple occasions and lived to tell about it.

"WAAHHH!" Or at least that's what he would tell everyone when he retold the story.

Ash had his eyes shut tightly as he was carried out of the clearing, but he heard a soft giggle, and felt a pair of three clawed hands press him against an... incredibly soft chest covered in light down.

_Wait a minute,_ Ash thought to himself. _Red, down, claws..._ "L-Latias?"

Another slight giggle met Ash's ears and he suddenly found himself being held in front of a smiling red and white face. _"Hi Ash!"_Latias said with a smile, nuzzling Ash as she did. _"It's soooo good to see you again."_

Ash blinked once, then smiled. "It's good to see you again too Latias... how have things been in Altomare?"

Latias' smiled drooped slightly. _"... Okay, Bianca went to art school a few years back, and Lorenzo... well, he tries,"_ she perked up again. _"But that's okay! I made some new friends, and was... reunited with my oldest one,"_ she grinned at him. _"And now I found you! So... yay!"_ She hugged the Pikachu against her chest again.

Ash smiled, he'd forgotten just how adorable Latias could be, that thought also made him feel kinda... guilty, for not having visited her... or Misty more often... or Dawn, or May, or Iris, or... or try to track down Mewtwo... or...

Ash shook his head, unfortunately, as he did this, he looked down and saw that he and Latias were what looked to be a good thousand feet in the air. "Latias? Why are we so high up?"

Latias blinked and looked down, as if noticing their height for the first time. _"Oh... I wanted to see you silly!"_ She bopped him on his nose before lifting him onto her back with Psychic. _"And I wanted to talk to you and... I got excited... oops."_

Ash let out a small chuckle and patted Latias on the back. "It's alright, but why don't you-"

"_Hold that thought."_ Ash felt some kind of Psychic belt clamp down around him. _"There's something I want to show you."_

Before Ash could even ask what she was talking about, Latias took off like a rocket, her ascent slanted upwards.

After a few minutes, the air around them began to grow thin and cold. Shivering, Ash wrapped his arms around himself.

Noticing his discomfort, Latias slowed slightly and put a force field around them before flipping over and holding Ash against her chest again. _"That better?"_ She asked him, smiling softly.

Ash nodded and nestled against her. "Yeah, thanks."

Ash didn't notice the light blush that crept onto Latias' face.

At this point, Ash had resigned himself to the idea that Latias would take him back down when she wanted to. He was comforted by the fact that he knew she wouldn't let him fall.

"_Alright Ashy,"_ she said, coming to a stop, floating on her back and looking down at Ash.

Ash rubbed his eyes, blurry from the flight up, and stared at the sky around him. From their current vantage point, Ash could see the stars set against the dark backdrop of space, and he could see the world curve off in the distance.

"Whoa," Ash gasped. "How high up are we?"

"_The Stratosphere,"_ Latias informed him. _"I come here to think sometimes cause it's quiet, and serene, and beautiful."_

"It is," Ash said with a nod.

Latias leaned forward expectantly, as if expecting him to say something else.

When nothing else came, she sighed, then smiled. _"You know Ash, you make a really cute Pikachu."_ Latias cooed, nuzzling the little Electric type.

Ash crossed his arms and grumbled. "I'm not cute, why does everyone keep saying that?"

"_Cause you are,"_ she smiled and hugged him. _"And don't act so surprised, you were cute when you were a human too."_

Ash blinked at that. "Really?" He asked, sounding slightly confused.

Latias laughed. _"Of course silly,"_ she lightly swatted his shoulder. _"It's one of the reasons I kissed you... that and your bravery, and kindness, and... Ashy?"_

Ash was staring at Latias with a look that seemed to be a mixture of shock and horror. "Th-that was you?!" He asked. "I thought it was Bianca!"

Latias rolled her eyes. _"Nope, I mean Bianca told me she liked you, but not that much."_

Ash continued to stare for a moment. "So... my first kiss..."

"_Was with me!"_ Latias chirped, nuzzling him again. _"It was so cute, how flustered you got afterwards."_

"Heh... yeah," Ash said, shaking his head. "So... why did you kiss me again?"

"_Cause of how much you helped me,"_ Latias said. _"And like I said, I thought you were cute."_

Ash laughed nervously, this day had quickly moved from reuniting with old friends, to finding out his first (and so far only) kiss had been with a Pokemon. It was a lot to take in at once.

"_Ashy?"_ Latias asked. _"Are you okay? You got all quiet all of a sudden."_

"Uh... yeah, I'm alright," Ash said, shaking his head again. "It's just... Latias... do you... like me?"

Latias giggled. _"Of course I like you,"_ she answered. _"Why else would I have dragged you up here?"_

"I thought you wanted to show me... all of this," he gestured towards the horizon.

"_I did,"_ Latias said. _"I wanted to show you my favorite place in the world."_ She nuzzled Ash again, a soft smile on her face.

Ash stared blankly at the Legendary.

"_Wh-what's wrong Ash?"_ Latias asked, worry on her face. _"Did... did I say something wrong?"_

Ash's ears perked up as he heard the worry in her voice. "N-no!" He said, waving his arms. "I mean... it's just that-"

Latias sniffled. _"Y-you don't like me? Do you?"_

"N-well I mean," Ash rubbed the back of his head. "I, uh, I mean you're my friend and-"

"_N... no, I get it,"_Latias sniffled again and looked away. _"It was stupid of me to think you would like me... I always end up falling for the guy who doesn't like me."_

"Aw come on," Ash said, fully aware that he was several miles in the sky, sitting on top of a girl who'd just told him she liked her, and that she was now crying. "I'm sure you'll meet a nice guy who-"

"_B-but I won't!"_ Latias sniffed. _"E-every Pokemon is too afraid of Arceus and my brother to court me, a-and,"_ her bottom lip quivered. _"And I keep falling for guys like you, w-who,"_

Ash watched as Latias began to cry. "Come on," he patted Latias' belly. "Don't be like that... please stop crying."

"_I... I'll put you back,"_ Latias said. _"I shouldn't have bothered you."_

Before Ash could protest, he felt himself being Teleported and found himself back on the ground.

"Latias," Ash said. "Come on, talk to me."

Latias looked down at him. _"I... I don't blame you Ash, it's my fault that... well,"_ she blushed softly, then leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips.

"_I love you Ash Ketchum."_

"THAT I LOVE YOU ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash jumped and Latias eeped as they heard a shout off to their left. They both turned to see a Vaporeon standing there, panting.

"Misty?" Ash asked.

Misty froze, then turned. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me!"

* * *

Misty stormed through Whitetail Woods, her tail flicking irritably behind her. "Why can't anything ever be simple for me," she grunted as she jumped over a fallen branch. "I would've stayed with Ash, but no, those three had to have their cruise."

Misty shook her head. "Then we come here, and I get stuck like this," Misty glared down at her paws. "But that's okay, I met a lot of nice ponies, and Pokemon, including one of my old friends."

Misty sighed. "And after everything that happened, I met Ash again, and just when I'm _finally_ about to tell him how I feel. He. Gets. Kidnapped. What are the odds of that happening?"

Misty frowned. "Considering how many times it happened when I was with him, I really should have expected this." She chuckled softly. "Arceus Ash, how do you end up in this situations?"

Misty sat down and shook her head. "I just... why does this... GAAHH!" Misty stood up. "Is it too much to ask," she said through gritted teeth. "That he NOT get kidnapped right before I... before I say that... that..." she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted. "THAT I LOVE YOU ASH KETCHUM."

Misty stood there panting for a minute. "Misty?"

Misty froze and turned to see Ash sitting there, on top of a familiar red and white Pokemon. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

Ash had a blank look on his face as he hopped off of Latias. "Misty... you and... Latias and... what?" While Ash was trying to figure just what was going on, Misty and Latias were glaring at each other. "Just... both of you? Really?"

Misty looked at Ash, a deep blush lighting up her blue skin. "Um... yes," she answered. "For a... a really long time actually."

"_Ever since I met you really,"_ Latias admitted.

Ash shook his head. "Okay... wow... I honestly never noticed."

"I know," Misty said, rolling her eyes. "You're a great Pokemon Trainer Ash, but... no offense, but when it come to love, you're kind of a block head."

Latias giggled. _"You really didn't realize I was the one who kissed you? I mean... Bianca would've said something afterwards."_

"I didn't think a Pokemon would kiss me!" Ash defended.

"What about Bayleef?" Misty asked. "You _knew_ she liked you... after we pointed it out to you."

"I was eleven!" Ash shouted, he took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm _really_ sorry that I didn't realize either of you had feelings for me."

"_It's okay Ashy,"_ Latias said, floating over to him and nuzzling him again.

Misty let out a small snarl before walking over to Ash. "Yeah... now you know.. and you and I can-"

"_I think you mean you and_ I _can-"_ Latias began, one of her claws grabbing Ash's shoulder.

Misty grabbed Ash the best she could with her paws. "Sorry, but Ash has known _me_ longer."

"_That means nothing, he's known Pikachu longer than you,"_ Latias countered. _"And besides that, I was his first and second kiss."_ She giggled again. _"And he was mine too."_

Misty glared at Latias, then looked at Ash and smiled before kissing him softly on the lips. Misty smiled while Ash's eyes widened. "I've been waiting a long time to do that."

Latias huffed. _"He's mine."_ Latias tried to pull Ash away from Misty. _"He saved my life! And he did his best to comfort me after I lost my brother!"_

"No, He's mine." Misty pulled back. "He helped me on _my_ journey! And he was the first boy who _didn't_ compare me to my sisters! And I've known him for literally years unlike you who knew him for a day!"

"_I waited for him to come back to me! I would've gone with him if I could've!"_

"Well so did I!" Misty shouted back. "I didn't want to leave! But my sisters just _had_ to go on their stupid cruise!"

"_My. Brother. Died!"_

"Well he's fine now!" Misty shouted.

"What?" Ash asked.

"Now let go!" Misty tried to pull Ash from Latias' grasp.

Latias growled. _"No way! I confessed first!"_ Latias tugged Ash harder.

"We said it at the same time!" Misty pulled back.

"_Well... he told me I was cute!"_

"Yeah, like a puppy!"

"G-girls?" Ash's arms were beginning to hurt.

"Besides," Misty snapped. "Aren't you like a thousand years old?"

"_What's that suppose to mean?!"_ Latias cried indignantly.

Misty smirked. "I'm just saying, why would he want to date someone old enough to be his great, great, GREAT, grandmother?"

Latias glared daggers at Misty. _"You... you're just jealous because_ I_got him first! And you're last!"_

Misty's glare hardened as Latias said that, it reminded her of the insults her sisters had thrown at her before she'd gone on her journey with Ash, the words she'd been tormented with throughout her childhood.

"He's mine!" Misty shouted at Latias, yanking Ash towards her.

"_No! He's mine!"_ Latias pulled him back.

Misty snarled. "Let go you cougar!"

"_I am not old you little whelp! And I least I was pretty before we came here!"_

Misty growled. "Listen here you giant red bit-"

"Thunderbolt!"

Latias and Misty turned just in time to see an arc of electricity connect with them. "GAAAAHHHH!"

Misty and Latias let go of Ash and fell to the ground. Ash shook his head and sighed. "Thanks Pikachu."

Pikachu smiled at Ash. "Anytime bro..." he surveyed the scene before him and shook his head. "Misty and Latias were fighting over you?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, apparently they're both in love with me, weird huh?"

Pikachu just sighed heavily.

Ash looked over at Misty and Latias, both of whom were struggling to their feet... or back into the air.

"Are you two alright?" Ash asked.

"_I'm okay Ashy,"_ Latias said. _"He's powerful, but I can take it..."_

Misty, on the other hand, was having some trouble, she was a Water type, and that attack had hurt like hell.

Ash ran over to Misty and helped her to her feet. "Sorry Misty," Pikachu called. "But I was worried that if you two pulled him anymore you would've torn him in two."

"I... I... It's okay P... Pikachu," Misty stammered, she could almost feel the electricity coursing through his body.

Ash smiled, he was glad they were alright. "Well... I'm glad you two are alright," he took a few steps back, safely out of grabbing distance. "So..." he began, rubbing the back of his head. "I... I don't know what to do here, I think I need to talk to someone... maybe Brock will-"

"Nope," Pikachu grabbed Ash and pulled him after him. "You're going to go talk to your mom... or at least the Professor... anyone but Brock."

Misty and Latias watched as Ash and Pikachu walked off, then slowly turned to face each other. "He will be mine," Misty swore.

"_Not if I get him first!"_

* * *

Twilight paced back and forth in front of the Ponyville school house, today was the day she and Juniper had scheduled their Pokemon lesson and Twilight was, as Pinkie would say, nervouscited.

"Twilight calm down," Juniper said. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry, I just can't help it," Twilight said, continuing her pacing. "I mean... this is really, really big."

"That's why we have Samuel coming to help us," Juniper smiled and put a hand on her friends shoulder. "He'll be here any minute, then we go in, I do some preliminary introductions, and then Samuel takes over, easy peasy, one two three."

Twilight smiled. "Yeah... yeah you're right," she looked around. "Where is Professor Oak anyway?"

As Twilight said that, a blue flash announced the Professor's arrival as he Teleported onto the playground, along with Tracey.

The Smeargle stumbled a bit as he Teleported in, as he was carrying several folders in his hands, but Professor Oak simply smiled.

"Good, glad that worked right," he looked over to Twilight and Juniper and smiled again. "Ah, Twilight, Aurea," he greeted them with a nod. "Thank you once again for inviting me to do this, it's been some time since I last gave a speech in front of a class and I must say, I very much enjoy doing it."

"Well thank you for accepting," Twilight said with a smile. "I'm sure Juniper would've done great on her own, but I'm still new to this."

"It's my pleasure," Oak assured her. "Now then, why don't you go get them ready while Tracey and I make sure we have everything?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Sounds like a plan," she opened the school door and was greeted by the sounds of a dozen excited foals. Twilight sighed and trotted inside.

"I'll call you when we're ready," Juniper said before floating into the room.

Twilight and Juniper made their way to the front of the class, where Miss Cheerilee was doing her best to quiet down the foals, as well as their Pokemon.

"Need some help?" Juniper asked.

"I swear, they're usually a lot more well behaved," Cheerilee sighed.

Juniper laughed. "It's alright, I'm sure they're just excited... now hold on a second." Juniper closed her eyes and concentrated on her psychic powers. A few seconds later, a high pitched buzzing sound rang in everyone's minds.

"Sorry about that," Juniper apologized once everyone had quieted down. "But now that I have your attention..." The Beheeyem cleared her throat. "My name is Professor Juniper and I'm sure you all know Princess Twilight already,"

Twilight waved at the class, several of the foals flinched, remembering the last time Twilight had spoken in class.

"And this," Juniper signaled Oak mentally, and the Alakazam walked into the room, followed by Tracey. "Is Professor Oak, and his assistant Tracey."

"Hello everyone, it's great to be here," Professor Oak said with a smile."Now, as your teacher has likely informed you, today we'll be teaching you a bit about Pokemon."

Everyone perked back up.

"But before we can start with anything too specific, we need to cover the basics," Juniper looked around and smiled when she saw the chalkboard, psychically pulling it over to her, she began.

"'Pokemon is the name given to a collective race of creatures that lived alongside humans back on Earth. They come in many shapes, sizes, and forms, and each are different in their own way. Some Pokemon are strong and fast, while others are slow but durable. Up till the point before all of us were moved to this world, there were seven hundred and twenty one known species of Pokemon, and that was including the Legendary Pokemon who are currently in the Hall of Legends in the Everfree," Juniper explained.

"But, why are they called Pokemon if they all look different?" Dinky asked.

Juniper blinked...or she would have blinked if she could. "Well...to be honest, no one knows...at least no humans still alive know. The term has been used for millennia, even dating back to the Kalos wars 3000 years ago, so if there was a reason behind the name, I would guess it was the name given by Arceus to his collective creations, which has been in use for longer than anyone can remember," she explained.

"Wow, that's older than Equestria," Sweetie Belle said.

Juniper chuckled. "Anyway," she continued. "Overtime, to better understand the Pokemon, particularly in terms of their general nature and abilities, humans classified them into types. As of recently, there are now eighteen known different types used to classify the Pokemon. They are: Dragon, Ghost, Ground, Flying, Poison, Bug, Water, Electric, Rock, Grass, Dark, Ice, Normal, Fire, Fighting, Steel, Psychic, and Fairy," she said, writing down each type on the chalkboard as she listed them down.

The foals looked a little overwhelmed, but a few moments later, Button Mash's hoof shot up. "Which type is the strongest?"

Hearing that, Professor Oak chuckled, remembering how many new trainers asked that question. "All types have their strengths and weaknesses, so really, none of them are better than the other. For example, many people think Normal-type Pokemon are weak since they don't have an advantage against any particular type. However, what many people forget, is that not only are Normal-type Pokemon immune to Ghost-type attacks, they are also very versatile, with many able to learn moves from other types. In other words, a Pokemon's true strength does not come from its type alone, but from its training, and the bond it shares with its trainer," he explained. "Now then, since we've covered some of the basics of Pokemon, we'll move on to a more detailed explanation of some of the more well known types, namely Fire, Grass, and Water. Scootaloo, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, may I borrow your Pokemon for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Professor," Scootaloo said. "Come on Charmander."

Scootaloo and Charmander, followed by Sweetie Belle and Squirtle, and Applebloom and Bulbasaur, made their way to the front of the classroom to stand by Professor Oak.

The Professor smiled and turned to the rest of the class. "Now, these three Pokemon are known as Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle," he indicated each Pokemon as he said their names. "Would anyone like to guess which type of Pokemon they are?"

The foals were all silent for a moment, this had to be some kind of trick. "Charmander is on fire, so I'm gonna say fire," Snips finally spoke up.

Professor Oak chuckled. "Yes, I suppose that one _was_ rather obvious wasn't it?"

The class laughed.

"Well, moving on, Bulbasaur is a Grass type, and Squirtle a Water type," Oak finished.

"Why _is_ Charmander on fire?" Silver Spoon asked. "Should we like, be worried or something?"

"No no," Oak assured. "Charmander's tail fire is where its inner fire leaks out, as well as its life force."

Once again, everyone fell silent. "... what?" Scootaloo asked.

"Charmander's life force is tied to the flame on its tail," Oak restated.

"So if the flame went out..." Scootaloo's eyes widened in realization.

"Yes," Professor Oak said with a sigh. "If a Charmander's flame goes out, then the Charmander dies."

Cheerilee turned to Professor Oak, horrified that he had just outright said that in a room full of children.

Juniper saw that several of the foals looked horrified as well, including Scootaloo, who had just given Charmander a quick hug when she thought no one was looking.

"Professor Oak?" Juniper began. "Why don't we move on to Evolution?"

The Alakazam smiled. "Oh of course, we don't have all day," he nodded to Tracey. "Now, how many of you here have heard of Evolution?"

To Oak's surprise, every foal in the room raised a hoof.

"We had a biology unit a few weeks ago," Miss Cheerilee said with a smile.

Professor Oak raised an eyebrow, then sighed. "I meant Evolution relating specifically to Pokemon," slowly, the number of hooves raised dropped down to one, Oak smiled. "Well Miss..."

"Dinky Doo," Dinky said with a grin.

"Miss Doo, would you like to tell us what you know about Evolution?" _This had ought to be cute,_ he thought to himself.

Dinky stood up on her desk and turned around. "Evolution is a process that Pokemon go through as they grow, it can be triggered when they grow in power or age, or by their emotions, or even by outside stimuli. During Evolution, a Pokemon grows into a more powerful form, changing shape, and sometimes even type as it does. When a Pokemon Evolves, it goes from being one species to another, Veevee here, for example," Dinky patted the little Eevee sitting next to her. "Could Evolve into a Vaporeon, or a Sylveon, or several other Pokemon... though most Pokemon only have one form they can Evolve into."

As Dinky sat back down at her desk, a smile on her face, everyone stared at her, mouths hanging open.

"Dinky," Twilight began, slightly awed. "How... how did you know that?"

"Some nice Pokemon told my daddy about it, and I was in the T... in the room while they were talking," Dinky answered, her smile never falling.

"...well, that's certainly interesting," Oak chuckled. "Anyway, she's absolutely right. Most Pokemon are only able to evolve into a single form at a time, though there are a few rare exceptions where a Pokemon can Evolve into more than one form, though the method is different for each form. Eevee are the most renowned Pokemon in terms of Evolution, being able to evolve into 8 known forms, though its been speculated that they could evolve into even more forms."

"Oh! I have another question!" Button called, waving his hoof in the air. "What do you mean when you say a Pokemon changes forms?"

Oak smiled. "I'm glad you asked. Tracey? The drawings please."

"Right away, Professor," The Smeargle nodded and pulled three pieces of paper from one of the folders before pinning them up on the blackboard.

The first depicted a large orange dragon, wings spread as if it were flying, fire streaming from its maw. The second showed a blue and brown turtle with cannons sprouting from its back, twin streams of water blasting from them. The final picture was of a greenish-blue dinosaur like creature with a large flower growing from its back.

"These are the final Evolved forms of Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur respectively," the Professor said. "Each one of them-"

"You're gonna be a Dragon!?" Scootaloo shouted. "That. Is. So. AWESOME!" Her wings buzzed with excitement.

"Actually," Juniper interrupted. "Charizard is a Fire/Flying type Pokemon, not a Dragon type."

"And as I was about to say," Oak continued. "Charmanders Evolve into a Pokemon called Charmeleon, then into Charizard."

"Still. So. Awesome," Scootaloo imagined riding around on a Charizard, raining fiery destruction down upon her enemies, for a second, she glanced at Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was looking at the picture of the Blastoise. "So Squirtle's gonna turn into that?" She asked.

"After he Evolves into Wartortle," Oak answered with a nod, then he chuckled. "Though not all Pokemon choose to Evolve. In fact, there is a Bulbasaur that belongs to a good friend of mine. I know for a fact that he's more than ready to evolve, yet he chose not to for his own reasons."

"Ah think I kinda get why," Applebloom muttered under her breath. "So does Bulbasaur have a second form too?"

Oak nodded. "Yes, before becoming a Venusaur, a Bulbasaur Evolves into an Ivysaur."

"Do all Pokemon Evolve?" Rumble asked, gesturing to the Rufflet perched on his shoulder.

"Well, not all of them. There a many Pokemon who don't evolve, or at the very least, don't have any evolved forms that we are aware of," he smiled at the colt. "But Rufflets do Evolve."

"You mentioned something about... training? A while back," Pip remembered. "What did you mean by that?"

"Train_ers_ actually," Professor Oak corrected. "And put simply, a Pokemon Trainer is a person who travels, battles with, and captures Pokemon on a journey, in hopes of discovering something about themselves, while helping their Pokemon grow along the way."

"What kind of journey?" Diamond Tiara inquired.

"Back on Earth, when a boy or girl turned ten years old," Oak began. "They're given what's referred to as a 'Starter Pokemon', then they start on a journey, with most usually challenging some battle institutions called Gyms to prove their strength and take on the Pokemon League, others just travel from place to place, meeting people and Pokemon alike, and still others compete with their Pokemon in events called contests, which rely less on pure battle strength and more on ingenuity."

Once again, everyone in the room had fallen silent. "So... what you're saying," Button Mash began. "Is that as long as we have a Pokemon-"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Cheerilee shouted, waving her hooves. "You cannot go off on some kind of globe trotting journey! You're children for Celestia's sake."

There were several cries of disappointment from the foals, and Cheerilee glared at Professor Oak. "What were you thinking?"

"What?" Oak asked innocently. "I was just answering their questions."

"You told them that if they have a Pokemon they can go off on their own and _wouldn't have to go to school anymore!_" Cheerilee snapped.

Oak continued to stare at the mare in confusion.

"You can't be serious," she deadpanned. "What did you think-"

"Cultural differences Cheerilee," Twilight reminded her. "Just let it go."

Cheerilee sighed, but dropped the subject.

"So did... Trainers, walk everywhere with their Pokemon?" Silver Spoon asked. "Cause the other day I was out for a walk and I saw this HUGE snake thing that looked like it was made of boulders."

"An Onix or Steelix," the Professor said with a nod. "And no, Trainers didn't walk everywhere with their Pokemon... well some did but most carried their Pokemon around in devices called Pokeballs."

A second too late, Twilight realized where the Professor was going. "Professor-"

"Now before any of you ask," he continued, holding up a hand to stop any questions. "Let me explain, a Pokeball is a device designed to encapsulate a Pokemon, regardless of their size, and store them in a space about oh, the size of a ball. It did this by converting the Pokemon into energy and holding them until their Trainer let them out again."

As Oak finished, the room was filled with a deathly silence. Every foal who had a Pokemon with them looked at their friends, then back at the Professor in horror. "W... why would anyone do that?" Sweetie Belle asked, wrapping her forelegs around Squirtle.

"It made it easier for Trainers to bring their Pokemon with them, especially the larger ones or ones normally confined to bodies of water," Oak replied, slightly confused at the looks he was getting.

"B-but," Applebloom began.

"That's like, soo mean!" Diamond Tiara shouted, hugging her Carbink.

Before Oak could say anything else, Twilight trotted up to him, pulled his ear down to her height, and whispered what Arceus had said about Pokeballs to him.

"Ah... I see... I suppose that does make sense that he'd feel that way," despite his calm demeanor, the color drained from Oak's face as Twilight spoke.

While Twilight had the Alakazam distracted, Cheerilee stepped forward. "Class... why don't you all head out to recess a bit early today? We'll continue afterwards."

Wordlessly, and far more silently than a class let out to recess early should have been capable of, the foals filed out of the building.

"Well," Juniper said once they were gone. "I suppose that could've ended _worse_."

"How?" Cheerilee asked. "First he tells them that thing about going on a journey, then he tells them about those... things! How could it be worse?"

Juniper thought for a moment, then sighed. "No, you're right, that was pretty bad."

"Miss Cheerilee, I am so so sorry," Oak said apologetically. "I didn't think about how they would react, Pokeballs are more or less universally accepted back on Earth."

"*cough*Team Plasma*cough*," Juniper coughed.

Cheerilee sighed. "Just... do something a bit cheerier when they come back in okay?"

Oak nodded. "I promise."

* * *

Delia Ketchum, like most mothers, had always told her son that he could come to her with any problem, that she would always do everything she could to help him through the rough patches in his life. The fact that he was twenty-three and that this was the first time he had come to her with girl trouble didn't change that, though she wished it was a little more... well, normal.

"So apparently Misty has been in love with me since at least Johto, and Latias has been in love with me since what happened in Altomare," Ash restated. "And... I don't know what to do."

"Well... what is your heart telling you?" She knew that was a long shot, but she had a little hope that-

"I don't want to hurt either of them and... I don't think I love either of them either... not yet at least, they're my friends, I never saw them like that."

"Oh Ash," Delia sighed. "You are so, so, so..." _dense._ "Sweet," she said, stroking his head.

"I don't understand why they like me," Ash muttered. "I mean, yeah, I saved Latias, but why would she love me for that?"

_Did I ever talk to Ash about love? Maybe this is because his father was never around._ "Because what you did for her was very brave Ash, and I'm sure she thinks you're a sweet, brave boy."

Ash sighed again. "Everyone keeps telling me that."

Delia sighed again. "Listen to me Ash," she held him up to her eye level and looked into his eyes. "I can't tell you how to feel, or who to choose, you have to decide for yourself, but I _can_ tell you that I'll support you no matter who you choose, and I know you'll do everything you can to keep from hurting the other." Secretly, Delia was hoping he would pick Misty, but she supposed it wouldn't be so bad if he chose Latias. Other than the fact that Misty would be utterly heartbroken, and that she would have to comfort the poor girl.

Ash smiled at his mother, then frowned. "Isn't there anyway I don't end up hurting one of them and possibly losing a friend?"

Delia sighed. "No matter what... one of them is going to get hurt, but I don't think you'll lose a friend."

Ash frowned. He was glad there was chance he wouldn't lose a friend, but he didn't think he could hurt one of them, especially if they started crying.

_There's gotta be a way that this all works out,_ Ash thought. _There's always a way._ As Ash thought, he didn't come up with anything until he offhandedly considered one idea. _No way that could work... right?_

Delia set down her son and smiled at him. "So, do you at least have an idea of what you're going to do?"

Ash smiled and nodded. "Yeah... yeah I think I do." He smiled up at her. "Thanks mom."

Delia grinned. "Anytime you need me dear."

After that, Ash excused himself, saying he had to think a little more, and as he ran off, Delia got a gut feeling that something... she didn't know what, but something was going to happen. "I should've asked what he planned to do," she realized as a chill ran down her back.

* * *

Professor Oak was glad to see that, despite the somber mood the foals had all left in, recess had apparently lifted their spirits.

He smiled as they all returned to their seats. "Welcome back everyone," he said with a nod.

"Uh... Professor?" Scootaloo began. "Why is May here? And who's the giant rabbit?"

"I'm a Lopunny," Dawn said, crossing her arms. "Get it right."

"Well, after how things ended, I thought we'd focus on a more cheerful topic," Oak explained.

"Contests?" Sweetie asked excitedly.

Oak blinked. "... exactly... how did you-?"

"May's been teaching me," Sweetie Belle said proudly. "I'm gonna be a Pokemon Coordinator."

Oak smiled and chuckled. "Alright then, May? Dawn? You have the floor."

"Thank you Professor," May said, she stepped forward and smiled at the class. "Well... hi. I'm May and this is Dawn."

"Hello," Dawn greeted with a small wave.

"And we're Pokemon Coordinators," May said with a grin. "What that means is that, like Trainers, we capture and train Pokemon, but instead of competing in Gym Battles, we compete in Contests, which are events held that showcase a Pokemon and a Trainers connection, as well as their ingenuity as a team and, often time, the Pokemon's beauty."

"What do you mean by ingenuity?" Dinky asked.

"Well, in a Gym Battle, the goal is to knockout your opponent with attacks before they knock you out," Dawn answered. "In a Contest, you have to wow the judges with move _without_ attacking other Pokemon... at least in the qualifying round."

"A Pokemon Contest is actually two parts," May continued. "The first is where you qualify for the Contest by showcasing your talent and beauty, and the second round is the Battle Round, where you battle other Coordinators while _still_ showing your talent and beauty."

"And unlike Gym Battles, the Contest battles only last five minutes, and each Coordinator starts out with a point bar, with the goal being to lower your opponents bar and for it to be lower than yours when the battle ends." Dawn finished.

"I'm still confused," Button said. "If you're battling, then what's the difference?"

Dawn sighed, then smiled. "I guess we'll have to show you... follow me."

Dawn made her way out of the building, followed by May, the children all looked at each other and shrugged before rushing after them.

Once outside, they saw Dawn standing, hands on her hip, next to Piplup. "Everyone, this is Piplup. He and I are going to show you one of our Contest moves."

"So pay attention," Piplup said.

The foals watched as Piplup took a position several yards from the school. "Alright Piplup, this won't take long, jump in the air, spin, and use Bubblebeam." Dawn ordered

"Ah, the old classic," Piplup did as he was told and jumped upward while using Bubblebeam, spinning in the air, the bubbles formed a circle around him, they floated in the air for a moment, forming what looked very much like a nebula, before bursting from one end to the other in a circle. "Easy peasy," Piplup said cockily.

Sweetie Belle grinned at the sight of the move. She had a move to work on with Squirtle now.

Dawn smiled and turned back to the foals. "And that's how you do a Contest move," she said, looking over the gathered foals, some seemed impressed, some seemed kinda bored. "Any questions?"


	56. Chapter 53

**Warning! This chapter contains... disturbing material involving Luke's past. Consider yourselves warned.**

Twilight yawned as she exited her bedroom. It had been a long day, especially thanks to the lesson which had come close to ending in complete disaster before it was even halfway through.

"I'm glad everything worked out, but for a Professor, he was kinda oblivious," Twilight chuckled to herself as she made her way down the stairs. "Well, everyone enjoyed it, so I guess I shouldn't complain."

After Dawn and Piplup's demonstration everything had gone pretty well, they had gone back inside, May and Dawn had answered some questions about contests, then Professor Oak explained a little more about Pokémon.

Twilight offhandedly wondered how many of the kids wanted to go into an occupation involving Pokémon now. _Could be a problem,_ she mused as she finished her descent.

"Come on, come on, one has to be here somewhere."

Twilight paused and turned to see Mage floating amongst several towers of books, flipping through the pages of one before putting it down and moving on to another.

Twilight rolled her eyes, ever since Gene had brought Mage to the library the first time, the Mismagius had spent a lot of her free time in the library, reading.

Normally Twilight was all for seeking new knowledge, broadening one's horizons, and all that. Mage had used her library to make a love potion, and then had tried to do the same thing again, with love poison.

She was still kinda miffed about that.

Surveying the pile of books, Twilight sighed. "Mage," she began. "Why do you need..." she looked at the book on top of one of the piles in confusion. "Dealing with Advanced Post Traumatic Stress?"

Twilight blinked and looked at Mage, slightly worried. "Mage? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"You need a better psychology section," the Mismagius threw another book back at Twilight, she caught it in her magic and read the title.

"Okay, this one's a book on self confidence... think I recommended this one to Fluttershy when I first met her." Twilight smiled fondly at the memories of when she first came to Ponyville. "Wait, why do you need a self confidence book?"

Mage rolled her eyes. "Easy, none ya,"

"None ya what?"

"None ya business!" Mage snapped, pulling another book, another psychology one, over to her.

Twilight frowned and grabbed the book in her magic, pulling it away from Mage. "Give that back!"

Twilight shook her head. "Not until you tell me why you're here so early, and what you need with these books."

Mage deadpanned at the mare. "I don't need to sleep, what else am I suppose to do all night?"

Twilight blinked. "Point taken," she floated the book back over to Mage. "But will you at least tell me why you need psychology and self confidence books?"

"Maybe I have a crazy friend with low self esteem," Mage replied with a shrug. "You don't know what I do all day."

Twilight glared at the Mismagius. "Why in Equestria would you joke about that?!" Twilight practically shouted. "If you need help with something... or someone, then you should ask, not joke about something like that."

Mage grumbled to herself. "I can help him myself."

"So there _is_ someone," Twilight deduced, her gaze softening. "Who?"

Mage looked at Twilight, smiled softly, and said. "None ya,"

"Mage!"

The Mismagius sighed and turned back to her book. "Look Twilight, while I do appreciate the offer, I don't think my... friend," she said sadly. "Would appreciate it if I talked about him behind his back."

"You know Mage," Twilight began. "It's not really going behind their back if you're trying to help them," she picked up another psychology book, this one open to a page on overcoming childhood trauma. "Especially with a problem this severe."

Mage remained silent and flipped to another page in her book.

Twilight sighed. "Come on, I've read every book in this library, cover to cover, more than once, I know this stuff like the back of my hoof," she walked up to the Mismagius and smiled at her. "Please let me help."

"... promise not to tell?" Mage said finally, pleading eyes looking at the Alicorn.

Twilight smiled and nodded, then went through the motions of a Pinkie Promise and recited the pledge, ending with poking herself in the eye.

"Every time," she groaned.

Mage sighed. "Alright... I... I have a... see there's this guy..." the Ghost type took a deep breath. "I... I have this friend, he went through some seriously messed up stuff as a child and I want to help him but... recently he's been acting like he doesn't think he deserves help, which hurts because he does, he really really does and..." she paused. "I can't stand to see him like that and I try my best to help him but it doesn't always work which is why I need the psychology books and..." her gaze fell downwards. "I keep getting cold feet around him, which is why I need the self confidence books."

Twilight frowned. "Why would you get cold feet? You're one of the most outgoing people I know," she shook her head. "What could possibly make you nervous enough to-"

"I LIKE HIM OKAY!?" Mage shouted, a dark aura flaring around her momentarily. "A-and I can't stand when he gets down on himself," she sniffled. "H-he's such a sweetheart a-and he deserves so much better than," Mage stopped herself. "Better than..." she grit her teeth. "... her."

Twilight's mouth hung open in a perpetual, 'Oh,' after a moment, she recomposed herself. "Uh... there, there," she wrapped a wing around Mage. "I'm sure everything'll be alright."

Mage glared at Twilight and phased through her wing, sending a chill down it and up her spin. "Maybe if Earth was anything like Equus," Mage grumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "I found _loads_ of parallels between our worlds."

Mage tensed up. "You don't understand," she practically spat. "Everything wasn't all rainbows and friendship back on Earth... people got hurt... sometimes irreparably so... hearts get broken beyond any means of repair and love doesn't always conquer all."

Twilight frowned. "Come on Mage," she said gently. "Just how bad is it?"

A single tear made its way down Mage's face. "L... he was a sex slave for six years," she choked out.

Twilight stared at the Mismagius in disbelief.

"See why I didn't want to say anything now Twilight?" Mage asked. "See why it hurts so much to _know_ the one you... that he thinks he doesn't deserve love? To know that he's so broken he barely believes he's CAPABLE of knowing real-"

Mage was cut off as Twilight grabbed her in her magic and pulled her into a hug that she couldn't get out of.

Mage squirmed for a moment, trying to phase through Twilight and her magic, but ultimately gave up. "I'm sorry I made you share that Mage," Twilight said sadly. "You're a great friend for wanting to help him." She looked down at the Ghost type and smiled. "And I personally think you're a wonderful girl, and anyone would be lucky to have you."

Mage blushed softly.

Twilight let go of her friend and smiled at Mage. "Okay first off," Twilight blinked in realization. "Could you... could you tell me his name?"

* * *

Ash groaned as he made his way through Ponyville. After his talk with his mom last night, he needed some time to think, clear his head, and plan. He hadn't told anyone else what he was planning to do, not even Pikachu, the thought of it made him... nervous.

Would he be with Misty, a girl he had known since he was ten? Or would be go with Latias, his first kiss? In a way he liked them both, but he never thought of either of them in the ways that they had thought of him… It was a hard decision, because no matter the choice he made, one of his friends would get hurt.

Sadly, as Ash was deep in thought, he was not watching where he was going, and as he walked along a trail that he found, he bumped into something. Something Pink, that smelled like bubblegum.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ash started.

"Oh, it's ok," A cheerful voice commented, Ash looked up to see one of the ponies he'd met the other day smiling down at him.

"Oh hey... Pinkie right?"

Pinkie nodded. "That's my name, don't wear it out," she cocked her head and frowned slightly. "Hey... are you alright Ash?"

The Pikachu waved her off and walked past her. "Yeah, I'm just... thinking about something, not your problem." Ash turned away from Pinkie, only to find himself standing face to face with the mare. "Ah!"

"But if one of my friends is having a problem, then it's _my_ problem to help them with _their_ problem," Pinkie said with a frown. "And I don't like having a problem soooo, what's your problem?"

Ash blinked as he thought over that sentence, once he was reasonably sure she wanted him to explain, he sighed. _What the heck? It's not like she could make it worse._

"Alright Pinkie," Ash began. "You see, there are these girls,"

"Wait," Pinkie help up a hoof. "Did one of them use to be your Pokémon? And did you just find out that they have a crush on you?"

"Uh... no?" Ash replied.

Pinkie nodded. "Alright, just checking."

Ash stared at Pinkie for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, both these girls are old friends of mine from Earth, and as it turns out, they both like me,"

Pinkie gasped. "Huh! A love triangle." She looked around, as if she were looking for someone. "Don't tell Rarity, she'll gossip about it to all her friends." She whispered to Ash.

Ash stared up at her in confusion for another moment. "Moving on," he said. "Turns out they both like me, and they said it to me at the same time," Pinkie tried to gasp again, but Ash put a paw to her lips and stopped her. "And then they were fighting over me and..." he sighed. "I... I think they're expecting me to chose one of them but... I don't know. I don't want to hurt either of them and I don't love one of them more than the other... heck, I'm not sure if I really love either of them yet." For the past day, Ash had been searching his heart and it was... confused, just like the rest of him.

Pinkie smiled sympathetically at Ash. "Well I think it's really, really nice that you're thinking of them first but... do you really have no idea what you want?"

Ash sighed again and put his hands to his face. "None," he grumbled.

Pinkie thought for a minute, then smiled. "Ya know, this is a lot like the time I couldn't decide if I wanted to make a chocolate cake or a strawberry cake for Fluttershy's birthday,"

"Not sure if this is the same kind of problem," Ash said with a frown. "Girls are a lot more complicated than cakes."

"I know, but I just _couldn't_ decide, so I decided not to decide," she said with a smile.

Again, Ash stared at the mare in confusion. "You didn't bake a cake for the party?"

Pinkie giggled. "No silly, I made both," she answered. "Sure, it was extra work on my part, but it was worth it in the end."

Ash looked at Pinkie, confused, then his eyes widened in realization. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I don't know," Pinkie replied. "What do you think I'm saying?"

"I think you're saying that... that," he couldn't believe what he was about to say. "That I should try to date them both."

Pinkie opened her eyes. "Weeelll... maybe not exactly, but I have known some coupled like that... or... tiruples?"

Ash wasn't really paying attention. "I mean yeah it's kinda... odd... but I was going to suggest a Pokémon battle,"

"To the victor go the spoils?" Pinkie asked. "The spoils being you?"

"Yeah, battling has always helped me when I needed it, and I was going to let Misty use one of my Pokémon to be fair, but this..." Ash shook his head. "I don't think I can do that," he said with a sigh. "I... I don't think _I_ could handle that kind of thing, let alone ask _them_ to."

Pinkie nodded. "So... what are you gonna do?"

Ash groaned and flopped on his back. "I don't know, I mean they're both my friends,"

"Why don't you tell me a bit about them?" Pinkie asked. "Maybe that'll help."

Ash sighed again. "Alright," he thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I'll start with Latias, since she kinda admitted it first and she was my first kiss,"

"Aww, that's sweet," Pinkie cooed.

"Yeah, but I didn't even know it was her until yesterday," he admitted. "She can put an illusion around herself, and I thought it was her friend Bianca."

Pinkie nodded again. "And why don't you tell me something _about_ Latias?"

"Well," Ash began again. "I met her in a city called Altomare, she was the guardian of the city along with her brother, Latios, and..." Ash thought for a moment. "I saved her from some crook who wanted a treasure of the city, but her brother died in the process, then I tried my best to comfort her for a few days before I left the city, and right before I left she kissed me."

"Anything else?" Pinkie asked.

Ash shrugged. "Not really, she keeps saying how brave and sweet I am," he sighed again. "Keeps calling me cute, I am NOT cute."

Pinkie giggled. "Actually, you kinda are," she smiled at him. "So what about this other girl?"

"Misty," Ash replied. "I've known her since I set out on my journey... when I was ten," Ash chuckled. "Funny story, I had to get Pikachu to the Pokémon Center, ASAP, so I 'borrowed' her bike to get him there, long story short, the bike got ruined, and when Misty tracked me down," Ash smiled softly. "She said she was going to stick with me until I replaced her bike."

Pinkie smiled again.

"I never actually got around to replacing it actually... man, I used to wonder why she followed me around for so long," he frowned. "Now I guess I know."

Pinkie made a 'go on' motion with her hooves.

"Well... she loves Water types, it was the type of her Gym in Cerulean City too, and she was horrified of Bug types," Ash laughed again. "Man she screamed when I caught my Caterpie... what else?... she was afraid of Gyarados until she was twelve cause she was nearly eaten by one as a kid... she had low self esteem cause her sisters belittled her until she left, but she worked past that... while we were on our journey actually," Ash thought for another moment. "After she went back to run her Gym... I thought about her a lot and..." Ash paused. "I... I used to keep a fishing lure she gave me in my bag."

Pinkie smiled at Ash again, then began to walk away.

"Hey!" Ash called after her. "I thought you were going to help me figure out who I'm suppose to pick?"

Pinkie looked back at him, as soft smile on her face, and said. "I think you just answered your own question Ash."

Ash watched in confusion as Pinkie trotted off, then lied back on the ground, staring up at the sky, thinking.

* * *

Princess Celestia sighed as she watched the latest in a long line of nobles leave her throne room.

"One would think they'd complain less now that the laws have been set," she shook her head. "Oh well, at least Blueblood hasn't come in," she chuckled. "I'm not in the mood for charades right now."

While Celestia had cleared her schedule upon receiving Twilight's letter, she couldn't stop all of the nobles who had complaints or requests. "They could at least be more straightforward with it," she sighed again. "Instead of always dancing around the subject."

It was at that point that the doors to the throne room opened again, and a Ninetales and a Shiny Arcanine walked in.

"Princess Celestia," the Ninetales began. "My name is Abby Trombley and on behalf of the Ranger Union, I'm here to beg for money."

Celestia had to stop herself from laughing. "Right to the point are we?" She asked with a smile. "Honestly I'd prefer if a few more nobles were like that sometimes."

"Well, normally I might have sugar coated it a little, but not in this case," Abby answered, shaking her head. "At the moment, I'm completely broke but I want to re-start the Ranger Union so I need money... and well, I figure that asking the local government would be a better idea than trying to figure out how to fund it by myself."

"Makes sense," She'd gotten the gist from what Twilight's letter had told her. "But before I agree to anything, I'd like to hear a little about the Ranger Union, from someone who was actually a part of it."

"That's fair," Abby said before closing her eyes. "The Ranger Union was started by Professor Hastings, who despite his failings, of which there are several, had the best of intentions for the Rangers," Abby began. "He wanted there to be a group who were independent of the Regional Governments and the Police force so that they wouldn't get bogged down in the bureaucracy when we were out there trying to protect Pokémon." The Ninetales paused for a moment before continuing.

"That of course was our main goal, protecting Pokémon from humans who would abuse or hunt them. The Union covered a wide variety of types of cases including Pokémon Abuse, Poképhilia, and underground Pokémon Fighting Leagues to name a few... I've been a member since I was 16 and I've seen my fair share of horrible things, I _know_ that our organization was overzealous in the past," she glanced at Kasai who growled slightly in agreement. "But I also know for certain that we saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Pokémon."

Celestia closed her eyes and thought for a moment. _I know Victoria and Trotankhamun have Pokémon in their military forces already... and I assume Serva and Oceania do as well._ She was glad the other rulers were so willing to accept the Pokémon, but she was a little miffed she hadn't gotten the idea first. All Celestia had was an Aegislash who only listened to her and a Ninetales who, while utterly adorable, probably wouldn't do too much in a fight, aside from maybe make her enemies surrender with sheer cuteness. _And setting up something like this will be quite helpful in dealing with the Pokémon... especially since if it's not tied to the government, then the nobles won't have any say in how it's run, which is a plus._

Celestia took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Miss Trombley, I believe that setting up this Union of yours here in Equestria could be quite helpful in dealing with the Pokémon," she cast a quick spell and teleported a quill and a scroll to her. "Since the Pokémon are technically ruled by Lord Arceus, even if they are counted as citizens, having a police force separate from the ruling government makes sense," she paused for a moment, then added. "So you and any other Rangers you recruit will report directly to me, or my sister, whenever the need arises."

Abby nodded her head. "I figured as much... now comes the part where you ask what I need and I make you flinch right?" She asked, only half joking.

The Princess chuckled again. "I'm over one thousand years old, I've heard just about every outrageous request possible, if you manage to make me flinch, I'll give you a medal." And she meant it too, she'd actually given a few out, including one to Twilight when she was just a filly for asking if she could have the royal library for her birthday.

"Tempting," Abby said, chuckling slightly before becoming serious again. "Okay, I need enough land in a fairly central part of the kingdom, maybe in or around Ponyville, to build a large headquarters. We're going to need our own small hospital, our own labs, and enough room left over for people to sleep if they're between missions. Oh, and enough room for classrooms, gotta have those and an obstacle course."

"And the rooms are going to have to be big enough for most of the large land Pokémon to fit inside of comfortably," Kasai added, speaking up for the first time. "Oh, and roosts for the Flying Types."

Abby nodded. "That too, which is just going to make things more expensive for you," she said, glancing up at Celestia.

Celestia closed her eyes again. _Admittedly that is... quite a lot of bits._ Her horn glowed again and another scroll appeared before her, unrolling the budget detail, she began making calculations in her mind.

_There's more than enough land between here and Ponyville for this, as for the bits..._ She thought, making a note of where the Union HQ would go. _As for the bits..._ Over her thousand plus years of ruling, Celestia had mastered the subtle art of manipulating money you did, and occasionally didn't have to work for you. _The Summit didn't cost as much as it should have, what with Discord helping Pinkie with the gala,_ As Discord had just made... pretty much everything, out of nothing, they had actually saved quite a bit. Celestia reassigned bits from there, along with several other places, then subtracted the remaining portion from her own, rather vast personal savings.

Celestia smiled and wrote down the full number of newly freed bits down on the blank scroll. "Well Miss Trombley, will this be enough?" She floated the scroll over to the Ninetales.

Abby looked at the scroll for a moment and let out a long whistle. "Princess, I still don't know how your money system works yet, but that is a **lot** of zeroes."

"Yeah... I'll say," Kasai agreed, blinking in surprise.

Celestia chuckled. "When you've lived as long as I have, you find ways to make the money work for you," Celestia thought for a moment, considering something else, then asked. "Will you be needing any... employees? Scientist, nurses, etcetera?"

The Ninetales frowned for a moment before nodding her head. "Sure, we'll take whoever you can give us, and if you can put out a governmental announcement saying that we're looking for Nurse Joys, Chanseys, Blisseys and Audino, that would be great. Oh, and of course whatever pony nurses and doctors you've got on hand who wouldn't be opposed to learning seven hundred new body types."

Celestia smiled and chuckled silently. "I believe I can do that," she said with a nod. "And I'll see about getting you a scientist or two for the lab, if you need them that is."

Abby's expression changed into a small frown. "Maybe... I know that we could use a few good ones... I'm kind of hoping that I can convince Hastings to step in and help out for the greater good... but I doubt it."

"Oh, and send out a request for Rangers and maybe ex Police officers too!" Kasai exclaimed as the thought occurred to him. "We won't be able to do a lot with just our little Team and Scarlet's."

"I'll add them to the list," Celestia nodded, a moment later, she blinked twice, then added. "But in case Gene didn't tell you, there are two Rangers in Ponyville right now."

Abby blinked twice. "Really? Who?"

Celestia thought for a moment, trying to recall their names. "I met them at the wedding... ah! Solana and Lunick are their names."

"Sol and Luni? They're here?" Abby asked, her eyes widening. "And Gene didn't tell us?"

"In his defense, we did kinda surprise him," Kasai pointed out with a small shake of his head. "But it's still good to know that they're here. More Top Rangers to bring us up to four."

Celestia smiled, she loved when things worked out, even if it was just something small. "Well, I suppose I'd better get started on this," she held up the scroll in her magic. "I'll have a construction crew ready by the end of the week, and I'll draw up the deed to the land you'll need once they get a good blueprint together."

"Wonderful!" Abby said, walking forwards and giving a slightly surprised Celestia a lick on the cheek. "Thank you so much Princess!"

Celestia smiled and chuckled again. "You're most welcome Miss Trombley," she said with a nod. "Now, is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"Hmm..." Abby frowned, her tails twitching for a moment. "Nothing except to please send Day Guard Captain Ace of the Las Pegasus Guard a letter saying that we're all fine."

"Of course," Celestia said with a smile, she made a mental note to look in on the City police departments.

"Oh, and maybe send her a bonus for putting up with my little family for so long," Abby added thoughtfully. "She deserves it, believe me."

The Princess chuckled. "After everything that's happened in Las Pegasus, I believe she _at least_ deserves that much." She _really _needed to check in on Las Pegasus, there had been riots there surrounding some casino heists and a less than clean shipping company.

"No arguments there," Kasai said with a smile as he sat there, smiling. "Hmm, I can't think of anything else other than to say hi, I'm Kasai, Abby's mate."

"Pleased to meet you Kasai," Celestia said with a smile.

"Right then," Abby said, walking back over to Kasai. "Thank you for your time Princess, I'll be staying in the hotel in Ponyville until the Union HQ is complete so send me messages there when you need things, or just give them to Twilight."

"Very well Miss Trombley," Celestia said with a nod. "I hope to see you again soon, but until then, enjoy your stay in Canterlot, and if there's anything you need, just ask."

"I will," Abby replied, smiling before she frowned, as did Celestia and Kasai.

_ARGH!_

It was a simple, angry, mental scream.

* * *

Mewtwo floated down the hallways of Canterlot castle, slowly making his way to the library. The Genetic Pokémon hadn't had much to do in the past few days and had spent much of his time in the library, reading about Equus and-

Mewtwo froze as a new mind entered his mental reach, which took up a fair portion of the castle. He kept it up in case anyone started looking for him, or one of the Legendaries came by, but it also served to give him a quick picture of anyone who entered it.

This new mind was powerful, seeming to outrank non-Legendary Mewtwo had encountered save the Pokémon Metagross, and it lacked the distinctively metallic mental tinge a Metagross would have.

And it was more well guarded than... again, any non-Legendary. _What have we here?_ Mewtwo wasn't sure if their were any psychically gifted beings on Equus, but he was curious if this was something new, or a well trained Alakazam or something. Plus, if it wasn't a Pokémon, a mind this powerful would definitely be worth looking into.

Mewtwo nodded and crossed his legs beneath him. Meditating in the hallway, he reached out towards the mind and pushed against the barrier.

The instant he tried to push past the surface, a psychic image of a pair of giant swords cut into Mewtwo's mind, possibly in an attempt to throw him off balance. Mewtwo frowned and swiped the image away. _Very well..._ he paused for a moment, then cut a hole in the mental defenses and slipped inside.

Mewtwo knew from experience that a Psychic's mind could be whatever they wanted, for himself, he defaulted to a tranquil cave, water slowly dripping from stalactites into a reflecting pool.

Some went for something more extravagant, Deoxys, for example, had a mental facsimile of a comet shooting through space.

So when Mewtwo partially materialized floating above some kind of fortress, he wasn't surprised. he was surprised when another mental wall formed in front of him, this one even stronger than the last.

He paused again and surveyed his current form, the fact that he wasn't wanted here made it hard for him to superimpose his image over the rest of the mind, and he was currently a densely packed cloud of shadows. _Could be worse,_ he remembered how Mew had the habit of making him look like a smaller, slightly boyish looking version of herself.

Shaking his head, he sliced through the wall and moved forward. Immediately, he came under attack by a thousand Blades of Night Slash, all aimed right at him.

Mewtwo raised his arms and formed a Barrier around himself, bouncing each of the blades off. Sighing, Mewtwo dropped the Barrier, only to find himself caught in a flux field, an airless, gravityless field generated by the opposing mind.

Mewtwo paused and, after a moment, chuckled. It was a good attempt. _Psychic_ But not good enough, his attack tore the flux field apart.

Before Mewtwo could catch his breath, he was grabbed in a psychic grip and slammed to the 'floor' of the fortress faster than he could think to react.

Mewtwo grunted and forced the grip open enough for him to slip out, then turned his attention on his opponent, holding him in place. Mewtwo smiled as he approached, hoping to finally get a look at who and whatever was strong enough to hold him off for this long.

Unfortunately, in his haste, he failed to notice the shockwave that was thrown at him from above. Mewtwo found himself being forced to the ground again, and as his grip loosened momentarily, the other fled within the confines of his mental keep.

_Enough!_ Mewtwo formed a psychic bubble around himself, the force of the attack cracking and denting the ground beneath him.

Finally free of the constant attack, Mewtwo moved forward, blowing holes in walls and forcing them apart whenever they impeded him.

It took Mewtwo a while to force his way past every barrier and blockade that had been set up, and Mewtwo had an annoying feeling telling him he was doing something much worse than it appeared.

Shaking the feeling, he blasted past the last wall and into the room at the center of the keep. There stood the being of Mewtwo's curiosity. _Interesting,_ he commented as he forced his own body to form. "I was expecting a Metagross, or a very well trained Alakazam." He looked up and down the green and white being. "Not a Gallade."

The Gallade glared at Mewtwo, a response that he found odd, most acted surprised, or simply afraid. What really threw Mewtwo off was the apparent rage that- "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" The Gallade roared, holding his hands out and sending a tsunami of power at Mewtwo in an attempt to send him away.

Mewtwo slid backwards as the mental wave hit him, then gritted his teeth. Holding out a hand, Mewtwo pushed the wave back towards the Gallade who struggled against it but was unable to resist for long and was pushed into the wall.

"What is it that you're trying so hard to hide?" Mewtwo asked, he wasn't use to this much resistance, reflexively bringing several of Luke's memories to him, hoping to see why the Gallade was so much stronger than a normal member of his species. "Believe me, I've been through enough to..." Mewtwo paused as he examined a very recent memory, specifically, the Gallade, Luke, as his name seemed to be, and his conversation with Mage the day before, and then even deeper to a thought that accompanied it. Luke dancing hand in hand with a blonde woman, a blonde woman who became a Ninetales who then nuzzled an Arcanine lovingly. "Ah," the Legendary said. "I see."

Luke's eyes blazed blue. _ARGH!_ he screamed with incoherent rage.

Mewtwo's eyes widened as the Gallade hurled hundreds of memories at him. Caught off guard and unprepared for such an assault, Mewtwo found himself immersed in the memories.

At first, he thought nothing of it, he'd been through hell once before, what could possibly compare to...

Mewtwo collapsed to the ground as the memories forced themselves over his own, quickly overtaking the barriers of his time as Giovanni's pawn, and of the half remembered experiments of his cloning.

It was then that Mewtwo realized _why_ Luke had such strong defenses in the first place.

He was suddenly much smaller. No more than a Ralts. He was being held tightly against his mother's chest. Suddenly she screamed out in pain and fell to the ground, Mewtwo tumbling from her arms. The child turned to see that an Absol was leering at him, his head blade embedded in his mother's back.

"Aren't you just the most adorable thing," the Absol sneered as he bent down and tore his blade diagonally through his mother's back. Mewtwo stared with eyes wide with fear despite himself and before he realized what was happening the Absol was on top of him. "Hmm, I think I'll be your first," he said and Mewtwo suddenly wished more than anything that he wasn't there.

The world went black and then suddenly became extremely bright. He was being pressed up against a wall, moans and groans all around him, pain splitting his rear end. Mewtwo was lost within the memory until he was put down aching and quaking. He didn't have long to rest. No, the Absol was back and once again his mind overflowed with pain and violation.

Again and again. Sometimes it was a man, sometimes it was another Pokémon, sometimes it was even a woman. Whatever the case, months passed, being used almost every day to keep him 'nice and loose' and no matter what he did he couldn't escape. He was trapped within the cage, most of the time not alone which lead to him being used by whoever was bigger than him. He cried and cried, his habits becoming more and more nervous, his speech more and more stuttering.

The last thing he saw was a Rapidash approaching him, prepped and ready, hanging right in front of his face and his mouth opening without his accord. Then his jaw came unhinged as the pungent odor filled his nose, the horrible taste filling his mouth. Mewtwo wanted to scream, to cry out in terror, more than anything, he wanted to be angry but he couldn't. His mind tried to blot out the memories, they weren't his, but they were so visceral, so real.

He'd lost track of time by the time four men decided to use him at once and the memories stopped halfway through their 'use' of him before begining _again_, this time, new encounters, new sensations, each increasing his despair and agony.

The images... the emotions... the... the sensations... Mewtwo held his hands to his head. "No, no, no, no, no," he muttered to himself. "E-e-e," Mewtwo's eyes snapped open, blazing blue. _ENOUGH!_ Mewtwo blasted the memories assaulting him to pieces and, as quick as he could, withdrew himself from Luke's mind.

Luke stood there panting for a long moment before his mental legs gave out beneath him and he collapsed, utterly spent.


	57. Chapter 54

Mewtwo collapsed to his knees as he withdrew from the Gallade's mind. _"No, no, no, no,"_ he continued to mutter to himself, still unable to shake the memories that had been thrust upon him.

Mewtwo retreated slightly into his mind and took a deep breath. Carefully filing the new memories away, he managed to pinpoint where the Gallade was in the castle. _"Teleport."_

Mewtwo appeared over the unconscious body of the Gallade. _I... I should fix this._ He thought, reaching for the Gallade's mind, intending to reconstruct his walls, Mewtwo was interrupted by a pair of angry jets of fire that seared into his back.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" a powerful male voice roared while another simply snarled.

Mewtwo whirled around to see an Arcanine and a Ninetales standing behind him, both were furious. Princess Celestia walked up behind then, a worried expression on her face. _"Ah... hello,"_ Mewtwo shook his head, still trying to shake those memories. _"I... I think I had better apologize."_

The Ninetales glared at him. "What the fuck did you do to Luke?!"she snarled, not at all caring who she was addressing. "If you've hurt him then... then..."

"I'll rip your ass off. Literally rip it off," the Arcanine stated flatly, his teeth blazing.

Celestia looked at the unconscious Gallade and remembered everything Mewtwo had done. "What happened?" she asked coldly.

Mewtwo took a deep breath. _"W-well, I..."_ he paused and focused, shoving Luke's memories into the deepest recesses of his mind. _"I was simply investigating why there was a mental fortress rivaling a Metagross' in the castle, and your friend did not take kindly at my attempts to discern who and what he was."_

"So... you violated his mind to satisfy your curiosity and then knocked him unconscious?!" the Ninetales screeched, fire blossoming in her jaws again.

_"Not at first,"_ Mewtwo said coldly. _"Yes, I invaded his mind, but I did not do any serious damage... not until he forced his memories upon me."_ The Legendary shuddered.

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have been trying to break into a fucking castle!" the Arcanine snarled.

Mewtwo could see this was getting him nowhere, and between the options of leaving and letting the Princess deal with this, and actually fixing the problem...

With a flick of his tail, Mewtwo uttered a simple command. _Wake up._ He ordered it directly into Luke's unconscious mind.

Luke's eyes opened with a start as he saw Mewtwo standing above him. Without a second thought or moment of hesitation, Luke brought a Night Slash straight into Mewtwo's chest.

Mewtwo didn't bother using Protect, or Barrier, or trying to counter, instead he let the attack hit him and slam him into the castle wall. The Gallade charged him and slashed him across the chest again, tears streaming from his eyes.

_"WHY DID YOU DO IT?!"_ he roared directly into Mewtwo's mind, blade resting against the Legendaries neck.

Mewtwo took a deep breath, or as much of one as he could. _"I do not believe my answer would serve to placate you in any way,"_he said dryly. _"Just know that if you kill me, Arceus will be here within a millisecond."_

Luke was literally shaking with rage. _"THEN! CALL! HIM! NOW!"_

Mewtwo's eyes widened and, shaking slightly, he closed his eyes. _"My Lord... help."_

There was a moment of silence before a flash of gold signaled Arceus' arrival. The Alpha Pokemon, floating above Mewtwo and the others, looked down on them in all his splendor... which was ruined by the tiny pink cat riding on the god like a Ponyta.

_"Mewtwo,"_ Mew began. _"What did you do this time?"_

_"He mentally raped me!"_ Luke shouted, his blade still against Mewtwo's neck. _"He invaded my privacy unprovoked and began to tear down my mental walls until he could see my entire mind!"_

Arceus raised an eyebrow and looked at Mewtwo. _"Why?"_

Mewtwo gulped. _"I sensed a mind more powerful than an Alakazam, maybe even more so than a Metagross, in the castle, I was not expecting a Gallade."_

Arceus shook his head. _"Have you ever heard the expression curiosity killed the Delcatty?"_

Mewtwo froze.

Arceus sighed. _"Unfortunately, I cannot permit you to kill him,"_ he said to Luke.

Luke shook for another moment and then stepped away from Mewtwo, before he could recover however, the Gallade's psychic fist slammed into the Legendary and Luke stepped away. _"If he ever touches my mind again..."_

_"Understood,"_ Arceus said, pulling Mewtwo over to him. Noticing the Ninetales and Arcanine for the first time, the god smiled._"Miss Trombley, Kasai, good to see you both again."_ he looked to the Princess. _"And you as well Princess."_

Celestia simply nodded, this seemed like a more... private, affair.

"..." Abby let out a long breath before she truly answered. "I wish it was under better circumstances..." She closed her eyes.

"I really will rip his ass off, literally, if he comes near my friend again," Kasai said, nodding towards Mewtwo.

_"Don't worry,"_ Mew said. _"I'll be having a nice long talk with him when we get home."_

Mewtwo grumbled, to tired to care right now as Luke shot him a harsh glare, retreating rapidly away from the Legendaries.

Arceus sighed again. _"I apologize for him... he's not very subtle... or gentle... or careful."_

"You think?" The Ninetales demanded with a glare. "Actually, you know what, I want him arrested! It's what would happen if we were still on Earth."

Arceus sighed. _"While normally I would be all for the equal treatment of Pokemon in the eyes of the law, I am not going to allow the first Pokemon arrested after the World Summit to be one of my Legendaries."_

"So basically because he's getting special treatment because he's a 'Legendary'?" Kasai asked, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "And here I thought you were the one trying to get away from injustice against Pokemon by coming here."

"_I do not wish to argue with you Miss Trombley,"_ Arceus stated dryly. _"I'll keep him under house arrest for a while, in a few months time, once things have settled down... then we shall see."_

The Ninetales' upper lip lifted into a snarl but she conceded. "... fine. But he IS going to pay for this."

"Agreed," Kasai growled.

Mew floated over to Mewtwo and glared at him before whipping him with her tail. _"Bad kitty,"_ she said sternly. _"You're in big, BIG, trouble when we get back."_

Mewtwo groaned, Mew might have looked innocent and adorable, but she was also an expert when it came to chewing people out. Probably came with being the 'mother of all'.

"Now maybe you should take Mewtwo out of here now before Luke loses it again?" Kasai asked, still glaring at the Legendaries.

Arceus blinked twice, then looked back at Mewtwo. _"Oh... right, I shall take my leave."_ he leaned down and nuzzled Mew._"Come home whenever you're done here sweetie."_

_"Bye daddy!"_ Mew waved as Arceus and Mewtwo disappeared.

Once that was done, the Ninetales and the Arcanine turned to look at Luke who simply sighed.

_"I will be in Ponyville."_ With that said, he vanished.

Abby let out a heavy, remorseful sigh, leaning slightly against Kasai before she noticed that Mew was still hovering there. "What?" she asked flatly.

Mew pouted. _"I'm sorry Mewtwo was a big meanie to your friend,"_ she said apologetically.

"... big meanie?" Abby asked, a dangerous edge in her voice. "Is that what it's called?"

Mew, picking up on the tone in Abby's voice, frowned even more, and allowed herself to float to the floor. _"I... I'm sorry,"_ she said, sniffling a bit. _"I don't like it when he's a... a jerk, I've tried to talk to him before but he's hard to get through to."_

Kasai apparently took pity on Mew. "It's fine... well, it's really, really, not... but it's not your fault it happened." He shook his head and then leaned over and nudged Abby. "Let's just move on for the moment okay?"

The Ninetales sighed once and then nodded. "Sorry... I'm just... REALLY angry right now."

Mew smiled softly and floated off of the ground. _"It's okay, I forgive you,"_ Mew moved forwards and wrapped her arms around Abby's neck. Abby stiffened for a moment before nuzzling back, giving Mew's cheek a lick.

"Thanks..." She shook her head. "So... now that we're alone... can you tell me anything about this?" She glanced at her extraordinarily swelled stomach.

Mew giggled and released Abby. _"Sure I can,"_ she floated around Abby's side and examined her. _"Aww,"_ she cooed, poking the Ninetales' pregnant belly. _"Hi cuties."_

"Cuties?" Kasai inquired with a frown.

"What do you mean cuties?" Abby added.

Mew floated around so she was eye level with Abby. _"Sorry, I'm kind of the embodiment of new life, I was just talking to the babies."_

"Babies... as in... more than one?" Abby asked dumbfoundedly.

Mew smiled and nodded. _"Uh huh,"_ she held up two fingers. _"It's twinsies!"_ she chirped happily.

Abby blinked twice and then looked over at Kasai. "We're having twins."

"Yes, that's what she said," Kasai agreed, nodding his head and giving her a nuzzle, doing his best to snap her out of the trancelike expression that had fallen across her face.

Mew poked Abby's belly again and giggled. _"I can tell you more if you want?"_ She asked before giggling again. _"Sorry, they're just so cute!"_

Abby frowned and shook her head. "I... um... Genders?"

_"A little boy and a baby girl."_ Mew informed, before glancing back at Abby and adding. _"And they both look healthy."_

"Wonderful!" Kasai said with a grin, licking Abby's cheek.

"Yes... wow... twins..." Abby said, still rather shocked. Then she let out a breath and nodded her head. "Okay, I can do that... It's a little unexpected but I can do that."

Kasai sighed and nuzzled her. "You'll be fine love," he said, giving Abby another lick on her cheek.

"Umm... when are... _they_ due?" Abby asked Mew with a frown. "I want to make sure that I'm not somewhere... public."

Mew hummed to herself lightly, then nodded. _"Twenty seven hours, forty five minutes."_ she stated.

Abby gulped and then nodded. "Right..." she trailed off uneasily and no amount of Kasai's nuzzling would make the sense of deep nervousness leave her.

Mew patted Abby on her head. _"There there, everything's going to be alright."_

"I... I hope so..." Abby said softly. "I... I've never given birth before... I... I don't know what to do... and I don't want Inner to take over for that... I..."

Kasai gave her a nuzzle and then glanced at Mew. "Not to be rude... but is there anything you can do to help her?"

Mew shrugged. _"My sisters are better at dealing with mental stuff than me, I suppose I could give them a call... oh wait, you meant,"_ Mew giggled. _"I can help her with the delivery no problem, I've done it loads of times before."_

That got Abby's attention. "You can?"

_"Sure!"_ Mew said with a smile. _"Not only did I kick start life on planet Earth, I used to be the go to gal whenever any female needed help with childbirth."_ she grinned and added. _"And I'm happy to say I hold a one hundred percent success rate."_

A look of relief crossed Abby's face. "I... thank you so much, Mew," the Arcanine said with a smile.

_"No problem,"_ Mew said with a shrug. _"I'll see you two tomorrow then."_

"Will do," Kasai said with a nod of his head.

"Goodbye," Abby added.

_"Bye bye."_ Mew disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Abby, Kasai and Celestia in the hallway alone. It Abby and Kasai a moment before the pair turned to Celestia who'd been observing the whole affair in silence.

Celestia blinked twice and shook her head. "I'm sorry for... whatever just happened, also, congratulations."

Abby nodded and let out a sigh. "Thank you Princess... for both," she said, shaking her head. "Oh... and Twilight mentioned someone named Bio Chem who I could see about maybe creating some form of birth control for Pokemon. Do you know where I can find him?"

Celestia frowned. "He should be in his lab," she said. "I can have a guard show you to him."

"Thanks," Abby said, nodding as she let out another breath and glanced at Kasai. "After twins, I'm not going to want anymore kids for a while..."

"Yeah..." Kasai agreed with a nod of his head.

"In that case, I'll be right back with an escort," the Princess turned around, heading back the way they'd came. "And... word of advice? Just... be careful around him."

* * *

Belle smiled and leaned against her husband, she and Gene were out for a walk. Partially just because, and partially because they wanted to look in on ShadowFox, as X had given them their home address to be and they wanted to check it out.

"I gave X some ideas yesterday," Belle told Gene. "Just some general ideas for us and the rest of our family."

Gene smiled. "That's good," he said with a nod. "Can't wait to see this place."

As the pair neared the house, they saw a house on its last legs, dilapidated and begging for a swift and imminent death. They then spotted X and a Unicorn mare with a white mane and tan fur. As they got a little closer to them, what they were discussing became clear.

"You sure you want this?" The mare asked.

"Sure I do!" X gazed at the tract of land, and house, he had just purchased for Gene and Belle.

"Well, if you want it, you got it. " The real estate pony said with a sigh. "I'm not sure you can do anything with a house that ruined. Sure it's big, but its not exactly in it's prime."

X simply whistled, as footsteps resonated from the distance. The mare gulped loudly as she saw what it was. A charging Apocalypse.

She moved out of the way just in time as the Rock Dragon shouted "CANNONBALL!" and crashed into the house, giving it the death it begged for.

The mare gaped in shock as Apocalypse then started to roll around the ruins as if it was snow.

"You Pokemon are weird."

"Hey, it's what kids do." X replied with a grin.

Belle stifled a laugh.

"Best. Construction crew. Ever," Gene said with a grin, watching as Apocalypse played in the buildings wreckage.

* * *

Bio Chem had been having a wonderful past few weeks. With the Pokemon's arrival, he had been spending his time either in his lab testing data, or in the field, collecting data.

Aside from teaching the few classes he had, he had completely devoted himself to unlocking the secrets of the Pokemon's DNA.

"Hal!" Bio Chem called, pouring the last of a select group of a precise amount of liquids into a machine and flipping it on. "Come here and watch this machine!"

A few moments later, a Metang floated over to the stallion. "Yes sir?" The Steel type asked.

Bio Chem smiled, during his time out in the field, he had seen plenty of Pokemon, some had been willing to answer his questions and provide samples, others had... tried to shoot him... or eat him... but Hal had apparently grown interested in Bio Chem's work, and the Metang had been following him around ever since.

"When this is done, I need you to bring it to me," Bio Chem said with a nod.

The Metang looked at the machine, then back at the pony. "This is... a coffee maker?"

"Yes, but I use it to make hot chocolate," Bio Chem said with finality. "It's an exact science, getting the chocolate to milk ratio right, you have to-"

_*knock, knock, knock*_

"One moment!" Bio Chem flicked a few switches on the machine, causing it to ding and begin the process of making his hot coco. "Watch that, it'll be done soon... should be enough for guests."

The Earth Pony rushed to the door and brushed himself off before opening it. "Hell... ooh, more Pokemon."

Bio Chem recognized the Pokemon at his door as a Ninetales and an Arcanine... a golden Arcanine with a highly advanced prosthetic front leg. _Smooth design, definitely looks waterproof from here, obviously strong enough to support his weight, wonder what type of metal it is? Looks like some kind of alloy._

"Hi," The Ninetales greeted. "I'm Abby Trombley and this is my mate Kasai," Abby said with a smile. "Princess Twilight Sparkle directed us here and said that you could possibly help us with a problem."

The stallion grinned widely, he was glad someone other than Blueblood or Celestia was coming to him for help for once. "Well, friends of Twilight, please come in."

Bio Chem led the two into his lab. "Sorry about the noise, I was making hot chocolate, you want some hot chocolate?"

Abby glanced at Kasai who shrugged. "Sure," the Ninetales answered with a small chuckle. "It's not really the weather for it but you shouldn't say no to cocoa."

Bio Chem nodded. "Hal! Two hot cocoa's for our guests!"

A few seconds later, the Metang floated into view, carrying a plate with two cups of hot chocolate. "Here we are." The Steel type said.

"Thank you," Kasai said with a smile. "Do you have anywhere you can set them? We don't really have hands you know?"

Bio Chem nodded. "This way, this way," leading them a little further into his lab to a small dinner table. Abby and Kasai took seats at it and Hal set the hot cups down before them, without hesitation, Kasai sank his muzzle down and his tongue lapped out, gulping up the cocoa.

"Mhm, not bad," Kasai said as Abby lowered her narrow muzzle into the cup and took a licks as well.

"Yes, not bad at all," Abby complemented before glancing at Bio Chem. "So, mind if I cut to the chase?"

"Not at all," the Professor said, taking up the professional tone he'd been using with the Pokemon. "What brings you to my humble laboratory?"

"Well, I'm pregnant," Abby stated. "And afterwards, I'd like to avoid being pregnant again for quite a while... but Kasai and I are very... horny I guess," she said with a small blush. "So... I was wondering if you could figure out some form of birth control pill or something?"

Bio Chem scrunched his face, he'd worked fertility treatments in the past but never with a species he wasn't familiar with. "Hmm, well, I haven't been able to gather much data on Pokemon, genetic wise that is," he shook his head. "Not many of the ones I interviewed were willing to give me a blood sample, and I'm still processing what I did gather." He _had_ actually gotten samples from a few canid species, as well as Celestia's Ninetales, but he hadn't been able to study them closely... and he figured he might need some more... intimate, samples to get any kind of birth control working.

"Hmm, would my blood help?" Abby inquired. "I mean, so long as you didn't take too much of course. I'm carrying twins after all."

The geneticist tapped his chin. "That could be helpful," considering that Abby was pregnant... he got up from the table and walked over to one of his monitors. "I suppose I might be able to synthesize something from your DNA that would... ahem, block some of the hormones and what not."

"If you think it can help," Abby said with a small chuckle. "Like I said, I think twins are going to be enough for me to handle."

"You can take my blood instead actually," Kasai said, giving Abby a nuzzle. "I'd rather just get through the next day or so without her losing _any_ blood."

_Great... not sure how that's going to help at all, and the Princess doesn't want me near her Ninetales anymore... I'll figure something out._ Bio Chem clicked his tongue and continued to play with the screen. "Uhuh, sure," he opened one of his drawers are pulled out a very large needle, it wasn't an actual needle, he used it to get a rise out of his students sometimes. "Now then, who am I poking with this?"

"Me," Kasai said, stepping forwards without hesitation.

Bio Chem blinked once and looked down at the needle in his hooves. "Eh heh," he cleared his throat. "Sorry, usually that scares people." That got a snort out of Kasai as he put the needle back and returned with a more normal sized one.

"I've gone through P.T. twice, lost my limb, been stabbed, sliced, electrocuted, set on fire, half drowned, caught in an explosion, lost enough blood to knock me out..." he glanced at Abby. "Am I forgetting anything?"

Abby just let out an irritated growl. "Shush and stop reminding me about that."

"Right, sorry," Kasai said before glancing back at Bio Chem. "But yeah, I can take a needle."

Bio Chem shook his head and chuckled as he poked the needle into Kasai's leg and drew some blood. "Honestly, you Pokemon are such interesting beings." He took the needle out and carried it over to one of his machines. "Durability rivaling that of any creature save for Dragons, natural magic abilities tied into some force I've never heard of," he paused and smiled. "Evolution, honestly the scientific applications are virtually endless."

"Well, hopefully you can apply them to keep me, and any other female Pokemon, from getting pregnant unless we'd like too," Abby said with a small chuckle. "Oh, and I just thought you should know, Kasai is a species called an Arcanine. You know, for science purposes and stuff."

Bio Chem nodded and typed some rudimentary programming into his computer. "Right right, and don't worry, I've worked infertility treatments before, this is basically the same, except backwards."

"Oh good," Kasai said, leaning down to lick at the spot a few times and going over it with his long tongue. "So hopefully we'll be able to raise our kids without worrying about any more."

"I'll do my best," he paused, then added. "But... try not get pregnant before I get done with this, nothing I can do if that happens."

"We'll do our best," Abby assured him with a smile. "Thanks for doing this by the way, I'd pay you but the only thing I can offer you is a position with the Rangers in our R&amp;D department once Princess Celestia gets it set up."

Bio Chem shrugged, his research grant covered his expenses, and the school provided room and board. "Don't worry, I have a very large research grant from the Princ..." Bio Chem's brain finally caught up with what Abby had said._Did she just..._ He thought to himself. "Did you just offer me a job?"

"Only if you're interested in being on the front lines of Pokemon science," Abby said coyly. "After all, the Rangers are going to be needing all sorts of smart ponies working with us."

"Yeah, and my leg is bound to break eventually," Kasai added, holding up his robotic leg. "Might be good to have someone around to fix it."

Bio Chem looked between the two, then said. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

"Sure," Abby said, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you," Bio Chem trotted off, heading a little further into his lab. Looking around to ensure he was alone, the stallion squeed. _I'm gonna work with Pokemon! I get to work with Pokemon and research and building new machines, Hal can scan me mental blueprints and so, so many new branches of science!_

"YES!" He shouted and pumped his hoof in the air before trotting back to Abby and Kasai. Trying his best to hold a professional look, he said. "I'll talk to the Princess and see about getting myself transferred, shouldn't be too hard, a lot of the parents say I'm 'incapable of teaching here', and 'unstable', or 'not safe around children'."

"So long as you sign a few agreements and swear not to go insane and start stabbing people with needles in an attempt to take over Equestria, I think you'll do fine," Abby said with an amused chuckle. "Thanks again Professor."

"Anytime Miss," Bio Chem said.

"Abby," Abby corrected with a smile.

Bio Chem smiled. "Well Abby, I'll contact you as soon as I-"

The doors to the lab flew open and a few seconds later, and a unicorn stallion with a blond mane tromped into view.

"What do you want Blue?" Bio Chem asked with a groan. "I'm in the middle of a meeting."

The stallion eyed Abby and Kasai before opening his mouth. "...?"

Bio Chem blinked. "You've gone mute again. What did you do this time? Kick a puppy or something?" The geneticist chuckled.

Abby frowned at the new stallion. "You wouldn't happen to be named Blueblood would you?" the Ninetales inquired with a deep frown.

"...!...?!...?" Blueblood waved his hooves around trying to get his point across.

Bio Chem fell over laughing. "I still don't speak mime!" after a moment, he got up and sighed. "Alright, Hal, do that thing you did when you first met me."

The Metang floated over to Blueblood and, its eyes glowing blue for a moment, linked the Prince and the others minds so he could speak... sort of.

"...!... -And what are these animals doing in your lab?!" Blueblood clamped a hoof over his mouth as his voice returned.

"_Excuse me_?" Abby asked, getting up from her chair, her face too far away from Kasai's for him to notice that her eyes were glowing ever so slightly. "Did you just call me an _animal_?"

Blueblood blinked once, then huffed and turned his head away from Abby. "You creatures have done nothing but torment me since you came here," he said. "And to answer your question, yes, I am Prince Blueblood." He glared at Abby. "What's it to you?"

"My name is Abby Trombley, Top Pokemon Ranger and Belle and Gene happen to be two of my best friends in the world," she said, her voice a deadly calm as her tails began to weave ever so slightly, the glow in her eyes increasing.

"Are those names suppose to mean anything to me?" Blueblood asked.

Abby blinked twice before the blue in her eyes blazed even further. "They're the people whose wedding you tried to crash a few days ago!" she snarled.

Blueblood blinked once, remembered what had happened at the wedding, then made the logical choice and tried to run out the door. Before he could however, he found himself immobilized by blue energy as Abby stalked towards him, every movement predatory. Kasai rose and thought about stopping her like he had when she'd been about to do something similar to Hastings but then thought about what Fang and Gene had told him about the stallion and thought better of it.

The Ninetales' nine tails swirled behind her as she stared into Blueblood's eyes with her own blazing blue ones. When she finally spoke, she was only a few inches away from his face.

"_You, who look down at everything with hate and scorn..._" the Ninetales began, her voice cold and frozen. "_KNOW THE HATE AND SCORN YOU CHOOSE TO IGNORE_!"

Blueblood began to scream, but halfway through his voice cut out. Finally finding himself able to move again, Blueblood collapsed to the ground.

"What just happened?" Bio Chem asked, he glanced at one of his machines and his eyes widened as he read the recent magical readout.

"Special ability of Ninetales," Abby said, her voice beginning to 'warm up' again as it became more her own. "I just cursed him. The despicable little bastard will hear every negative thought directed at him within a hundred yards for the next week or so."

Bio Chem nodded and walked over to the unconscious stallion. "I THINK YOU'RE SELF ABSORBED AND PETTY AND WISH YOU WOULD STOP COMING TO ME WHENEVER THE PRINCESS DIDN'T LET YOU HAVE YOUR WAY!" Nodding again Bio Chem trotted back to his seat. "That felt good," he said, taking a sip of his cocoa.

Kasai rushed over and nozed Abby. "Abby, are you alright? Do you feel faint?"

"No... no I'm fine," Abby said with a smile as she leaned into him. "That actually felt really good."

The Arcanine let out a sigh of relief and nuzzled her. "It did?" Kasai asked, glancing down at her in concern. "That doesn't sound like a good thing Abby."

"I don't know... it _is_ one of a Ninetales' natural abilities," Abby pointed out, frowning as she leaned into his neck.

"I wouldn't worry," Bio Chem interjected. "A, it's natural for the use of an ability to feel... natural, especially if it hasn't been used much. And B... It's Blueblood, I make a point to blow him up every time I get half a chance, so it might just be that it's him."

"Hmm... I'm still worried," Kasai said, nuzzling Abby.

"I'm fine Kasai," Abby said, nuzzling him back before glancing at Bio Chem. "Anyways, we should probably be getting back to the station soon, don't want to miss the train back to Ponyville. Ask Princess Celestia for our 'address' if you need to find us."

Bio Chem smiled. "Have a safe trip." He said with a wave.

"Thanks," Abby said and together, she and Kasai walked out of the room, leaving Bio Chem with the slowly rousing Blueblood.

"I should... probably put him somewhere before he wakes up," Bio Chem tapped his chin in thought. "I know, I'll drop him in the school cafeteria!"

* * *

Princess Celestia smiled as the seemingly endless throng of complaining nobles finally came to an end. Now all that was left was to finish up a few minor affairs, such as the plans Grissom had put in for including some of the Pokemon into the Royal Guard, and she'd be done just in time for…

"Princess! Urgent news!"

So much for that…

Celestia resisted the urge to sigh, and quickly turned to address the messenger. "Yes? What seems to be the problem?"

"Earlier, some of the guards just came back from checking on the castle vault, and they found this stuck to the door," the stallion said, before levitating a card shaped note.

Taking the note into her own magical grasp, Celestia looked it over, and as she read, her eyes widened in alarm.

'In my travels through this new world, I have heard tales of jewels whose radiance can only be outdone by the very Elements of Harmony themselves, and in those tales, all of them pointed to this fine city atop the mountain. Therefore I have decided. Tomorrow night at 10, The Equestrian Crown Jewels shall be mine.' the note said. Peering down at the edge of the note, she noticed something at the bottom right: a black symbol that looked like the head of a Fox, or Fox-like Pokemon, and next to it were the words: Phantom Thief Fox.

At this, Celestia sighed tiredly. _Why me?_ she mentally groaned, a migraine coming up, especially since this wasn't the first time she had heard that name. Recently, she had been hearing reports from various cities and towns around Equestria concerning a string of robberies, all of them perpetrated by this same individual.


	58. Chapter 55

Misty paced back and forth in the camp Ash and the others had set up. She'd decided to come and stay with them, after thanking Fluttershy profusely for letting her stay with her for so long.

She was pacing because she was still waiting for Ash to come back. He'd gone into town earlier and he hadn't returned yet.

"That stupid dragon probably scared him off," Misty said under her breath.

"_Nuh uh!"_ Latias defended, appearing beside Misty.

"Gah!" Misty shouted in surprise. "Don't do that!"

Latias stuck out her tongue. _"You're just jealous cause I can turn invisible."_

"Why would that make me jealous?" Misty shot back.

Latias shrugged. _"I don't know, but you are!"_

Misty groaned. "Why are you even here?" She asked curtly.

"_I'm waiting for Ashy to come back and tell me he loves me,"_ Latias said, smiling blissfully at the thought.

"He's gonna pick me," Misty said, glaring at Latias. "Not you."

"_I say one thing, you say another, the point is one of us is right and it's not the walking catfish."_ Latias giggled again.

Misty sunk back a bit, the words biting her as her sisters had. "Why are you doing this?" Misty asked. "I love him, I've loved him for so long, why do you want to take him from me?" She had tears stinging at her eyes, a culmination of everything that had happened the past few days that she couldn't stop.

Latias frowned. She didn't want to be mean, not really, but... she wanted Ash. _"I... I'm sorry,"_ Latias said. _"I shouldn't be insulting you, that was just a mean thing to say."_

Misty sniffed and looked at the Legendary in mild confusion.

"_And... I love him too, I really, really do. I know I've said I've had feelings for others but... not like this, I can't stop thinking about him,"_ Latias admitted. _"I don't care if he is mortal, I want to spend as much time with him as possible... I'm sorry Misty, but I'm not backing down."_

Misty glared at Latias. "I can't see a solution to this problem, either way, one of us is going to walk away hurt."

"_I can only think of two ways to sort this out,"_ Latias began. _"One, we could fight over him."_

"You're a Legendary, I use to be human," Misty said.

"_I know,"_ Latias said with a smirk. _"Which is why I'm certain I'm going to end up holding Ash in my arms by the end of the day."_

Misty growled. She hated it when people counted her out, when they were so sure they would win that they didn't even consider the possibility of anything else.

"Alright, you wanna battle me?" Misty asked. "Fine. WATER PULSE!"

Latias' eyes widened and she dodged to the left of the attack. _"You'll never win like that. Try something like this instead, Dragon Claw!"_

The Eon Pokemon shot forward, ready to rake her claws across Misty's body, but the Vaporeon slid under her to dodge.

"I'll never give up," Misty informed her. "So this battle's gonna go until one of us passes out."

"_It won't be me,"_ Latias stated.

The two glared at each other.

"Hydro Pump!"

"_Dragon Breath!"_

The two attacks collided between them, and while the Dragon move overtook the Hydro Pump, both attacks fizzled out.

"Quick Attack!" Misty shouted, blasting towards Latias.

Latias smirked and made to dodge, but moved a little too slowly, and Misty rammed into Latias, full speed, knocking her back.

"_Ow..."_ Latias said in surprise. _"Alright, try this on for size... Steel Wing!"_

Misty eyes widened but she was unable to get out of the way befor Latias rammed into her. _"Just give up,"_ Latias said. _"You're only going to get hurt!"_

"I. Don't. CARE! SURF!"

Latias eyes widened as the sound of crashing water reached her ears and, before she could do anything, a twenty foot wall of water crashed through the trees and down onto her.

Fortunately, she could hold her breath for a long time. Once the water receded, leaving Latias dripping wet, Misty smirked. "Think I still don't have a chance at beating you?"

"_None whatsoever,"_ Latias admitted. _"Mist Ball!"_

Latias' signature move shot towards Misty, but the Vaporeon managed to dodge it. "Water Pulse!" She called out.

"_Dragon Pulse!"_ Latias countered

Once again the two attacks met in the middle, but this time, Latias' blasted through Misty's, and struck the Vaporeon, slamming her backwards against a nearby tree.

"Ahh!" Misty cried out in pain as she hit the tree and fell to the ground.

Latias winced. _"Hey... you alright?"_ She wanted to win, but she didn't want to really hurt Misty, especially since the former human had no chance of-

"ICE BEAM!" Latias' eyes widened at the jagged ray of ice energy racing towards her-

Mity smirked as the ice sculpture formerly known as Latias fell to the ground. "Thank you, Dewgong," Misty had been practicing a few moves she'd used in Gym Battles over the past few weeks. It had really paid off.

"Now then," Misty said, walking up to the icecube. "Why don't _you_ try _this_ AURORA BEAM!"

Misty was almost shocked when a multicolored ray of light shot from her mouth and struck Latias, shattering the ice and sending the Dragon type backwards. _Thank Arceus that worked,_ Misty had been practicing that move for a while, but hadn't been able to get it right. _Guess I just needed the right motivation._

Latias shivered as she picked herself up off the ground. Two consecutive Ice type attacks had done a number in her, but she wasn't out just yet.

"_Y-you th-think it'll be that easy?"_ Latias asked. _"A few advantageous moves and I'm out?"_ A yellow light was beginning to gather in her claws. _"Well, that won't work on me. But maybe it'll work on__**you**__CHARGE BEAM!"_

Misty's eyes widened again as the Electric attack closed in on her. _Sorry Ash,_ she thought, a tear rolling down her face. _I tried._

"MISTY!" Misty and Latias both turned to see Ash running towards them. To the surprise of both of them, the Charge Beam arched away from Misty, and instead struck Ash's tail.

"ASH!"

"_ASH!"_

They both raced towards him, worried that he might be hurt. But to their surprise, other than glancing back at his tail, he seemed fine. In fact, it was as if he hadn't felt the effects of the attack at all.

"Huh," Ash shrugged, looking back to Misty and Latias. "Guess my ability is Lightningrod," he said with a smile.

"_Ash I am sooo sorry!"_ Latias apologized. _"We were battling and things kind of got... out of hand after Misty froze me."_

"You suggested a battle!" Misty retorted.

"_You attacked me first!"_ Latias shot back.

"Girls!" Ash suddenly shouted. "Just... please stop fighting and let me talk."

Latias and Misty fell silent.

"Thank you," Ash said with a sigh. "I want you two to know that I've spent literally every waking moment since you two... proclaimed your love for me, trying to figure out how I feel, or how I could let one of you down without hurting the other," the Pikachu let out another sigh. "I've talked to my mom, and... one weird pony who tried to give me advice... but just kinda made me feel bad."

* * *

Elsewhere, Pinkie Pie felt a disturbance in the force.

* * *

Ash shook his head and smiled at Misty. "Misty, you're one of my best friends, and I've known you for a long time," he looked up at Latias. "And Latias... you are one of the sweetest, most adorable girls I know, and I happy to call you my friend."

Both girls were leaning in so they could be closer to Ash, hoping, praying that he would say what they wanted to hear.

"And... I've honestly never thought of either of you as anything _other_ than my friends," Ash said with a small frown.

_Noooo._ Misty moaned mentally.

_Must not call Cresselia. Must not call Cresselia,_ Latias chanted in her mind.

"And I don't want to hurt either of you, and I know choosing one of you would hurt the other... a lot... and I don't want that," Ash sighed. "So... I guess what I'm saying is... I can't love either of you, not knowing the pain I'd cause the other."

Without waiting for either of them to respond, Ash turned around and began to walk away. Misty's legs gave out from under her and she stared after him, one paw reaching after him. "N... no."

Latias, meanwhile, was beginning to hyperventilate. _Can't, nope, won't lose him, not gonna lose him again, not gonna let him slip away... DOING IT!_

"_WAIT!"_ Latias mental cry caused Ash to stop and look back, and Misty to look up a Latias hopefully. _"... Misty,"_ Latias said after a long moment. _"I... I said I had two ways that we could... work out our problem..."_

Misty's eyes widened and she sat up. "Okay, what's the second? Love trivia? Dating game show?" She was starting to get kinda... desperate, understandable as the only man she'd ever loved was about to walk away from her, possibly forever.

Latias floated down until she was eye level with the Vaporeon. _"Do you love Ash more than anything? Do you love him enough to..."_ Latias blushed and she whispered the next part in Misty's ear.

The Vaporeon blushed and stared back at Latias. "... are you sure my game show idea wouldn't work? I mean it has to have some merit."

Latias deadpanned at the Water type, and Misty sighed. After a moment, she looked back up at Latias and slowly nodded her head. "I... I do."

Latias smiled and giggled. _"Good,"_ Latias and Misty turned towards Ash together, both of them smiling.

"Uhh... what did you two just agree to?" Ash asked nervously.

Latias and Misty looked at each other, then back at Ash. "This," was all Misty said before she pounced Ash.

"Ah!" Ash found himself being held tightly against Misty... he had to admit, it wasn't a bad feeling. "So does this mean that-Yah!"

Ash and Misty were both suddenly grabbed by Latias, who held both of them close to her and nuzzled Ash softly.

"... Okay... I'm REALLY confused," Ash admitted.

Latias and Misty giggled. "You always were in this kind of situation Ash," Misty said with a smile.

"_Since you couldn't choose, and neither of us wanted to lose you... we agreed to share you."_ Latias explained.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait... what?" Ash asked, eyes wide.

"You're OURS, you cute little Pikachu," Misty said, kissing Ash's cheek. "Latias and I will work out how... _our_ relationship works later, but for now." Ash felt himself being held tighter by both his girlfriends.

"I... just... I..." he stammered.

"_Shhh,"_ Latias cooed, nuzzling him again. _"You'll ruin the moment."_

Ash sputtered for a few more seconds, before resigning himself to his huggy fate.

* * *

When ponies learned that Fluttershy, of all ponies, had opened her house to any Pokemon who needed a place to stay... not many were really that surprised. This was Fluttershy they were talking about.

Most ponies, however, did not know just how far she was going to accommodate them.

Fluttershy smiled as the last post for her yards new fence was driven into the ground. "That should do it Miss Fluttershy."

She smiled. "Thank you Sawk," she said to the blue Pokemon who stood before her in a karate uniform.

"It was no trouble," he said with a bow. "Especially after you fixed my uniform." He smiled and tugged at a stitch on the uniforms left shoulder.

"Oh, it was nothing, really," she said, looking away sheepishly. "I'm just here to help."

"Nonsense," Sawk insisted. "My uniform is of great importance to me, and helping you with your fence was the least I could do to repay you."

Fluttershy smiled and surveyed the fence. A combination of working on it herself in her free time, and Sawk's work had expanded it outward several yards, and had lowered the bottom board so that no one could slip out under it.

The last part was mostly so none of the younger Pokemon escaped.

"But still, thank you so much for your help," Fluttershy said with a smile.

"My pleasure," Sawk said, returning the smile.

The two talked for awhile, and after he had assured Fluttershy he was in no need of anything else, Sawk walked off, leaving Fluttershy to tend to the rest of the Pokemon.

"Alright Cubone," she placed the little Pokemon who had become her assistant on her back. "Before we get started, I want to check on someone."

"Who?" He asked curiously, causing Fluttershy to smile. Despite being so withdrawn and sad when he arrived, Cubone had really opened up since Fluttershy had found him.

"Just some Pokemon who I found a few days ago," she answered, trotting around the side of her house to a pile of dead branches she had collected. As she spotted the Pokemon she was looking for, she smiled. "Hello Paras," she said to the trio. "How are you feeling today?"

The lobster like Pokemon skittered over to her and looked up at her with adoring eyes. "Just fine Miss Fluttershy," the largest of the three replied, giving her an insectoid grin.

Fluttershy sighed with relief, she checked up with all the Pokemon she was taking care of, to ensure they were all doing okay, but these three... she had been worried about the mushrooms she had found growing on their backs, and apparently she had been right to worry. A talk with Professor Oak had revealed the disturbingly parasitic nature of the mushrooms, and the detrimental health effects it had upon their Evolution.

Fortunately, they had been easy enough to remove, and the Paras didn't seem to mind that much, aside from their curiosity as to why she'd done it in the first place... she wasn't sure telling them was the best idea.

She _was_ keeping the Mushrooms in an old planter in her basement, just in case. Besides, the Professor had said eating them would help extend her life.

After checking the soft spots where she'd removed the mushrooms, Fluttershy moved on to her next daily chore, feeding all the animals, and Pokemon, that she was taking care of.

"Angel?" She called as she trotted inside. "Where are you? It's time for your lunch."

It took Fluttershy a few minutes to track down her pet, but she found him. "Oh, how cute~"

Angel was sitting on the couch with Buneary. She had her arms wrapped around him and he... had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "Well Angel, I'll just leave your lunch here for you whenever you're ready."

Angel tried to get out of Buneary's grip as Fluttershy placed a plate of carrots next to them on the couch before trotting off to feed some of the other Pokemon.

"Oh stop squirming you," Buneary said, hugging him tighter. "You're all fuzzy," she said with a giggle. "Now I see why those kids at the daycare always liked to hug me."

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was outside, feeding some fish to the Water Pokemon who'd taken up residence in the river in front of her cottage.

"Thank you miss Fluttershy," Oshawott said with a smile as he took the bowl of fish from her.

"You're very welcome Oshawott," Fluttershy leaned down and nuzzled the little otter, causing him to laugh and smile at her.

After finishing her rounds, Fluttershy went back inside and sat down in one of the chairs. Placing Cubone on her lap, she sighed. "I love that I'm able to help them," she said with a yawn. "Even if it is a lot of work."

It was especially exhausting preparing the fish for the Pokemon who needed it. She had plenty, but before the Pokemon had arrived she'd really only had to fed some otters, weasels, and Harry the bear any amount of meat.

She understood better than most ponies a creatures need for meat. _I wonder how they all managed back on Earth,_ from what some of the Pokemon had told her, not all Pokemon had someone to take care of them.

_I hope they all managed to get enough food,_ she thought, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. _I'd hate for some Pokemon, or anyone really, to go hungry if they couldn't catch..._

Fluttershy's thought process stopped. _Couldn't catch..._ her eyes opened. "Wait, what did they eat?!"

* * *

Lucario yawned as he awoke. Aside from the feeling of the grass under his back, the first thing he felt was warm fur against his own.

Cracking open an eyelid and waiting a moment for his vision to adjust, he looked over and his eyes widened as he saw Korrina lying next to him. _Oh right,_ he recalled. _I was helping her train and we lied down to rest..._ he chuckled softly to himself _Guess we must have dozed off._

Lucario took another look at Korrina's sleeping form and smiled. _By Arceus, I love this feeling,_ he thought to himself. Just being able to lie next to her like this was beyond wonderful.

And even better was the fact that he and Korrina had been spending time together ever since the wedding. Since most of what he did back on Earth was battling, there wasn't much for Lucario to show Korrina, especially since she'd made a point of training alongside her Pokemon. Korrina, on the other hand, had been introducing Lucario to some of her non-Pokemon related hobbies. Mainly teaching him how to skate. Thankfully after the first ill fated attempt, she'd decided it'd be better to start with the basics, rather than pushing him down a hill and hoping for the best again.

Lucario sighed. That hadn't been on of her best ideas. _But then again,_ he thought with a smile. _Korrina never was one to do anything halfway._ Lucario chuckled. He remembered once when several consecutive gym battles had really gotten Korrina's spirits up, she had Mega Evolved him and swept through their next challengers team... which consisted of his starter and a Bunnelby.

Korrina had apologized afterwards, and the boy came back a few weeks later with a trained team, so it had worked out, but Lucario still felt sorry for the boy.

Lucario sighed and looked over at Korrina again, he'd always loved these kind of quiet moments, even back on Earth, when it was just him and her. Despite having a busy schedule as a Gym Leader, she always made time for him. And she always treated him as an equal, as a member of her family. Especially when he got sick or hurt.

He remembered one really bad cold he'd gotten that left him bedridden for a week, she was right there with him, usually with a bowl of hot soup to make him feel better.

Lucario smiled at the memory.

"Hey," a groggy voice said from beside him. Lucario turned to see Korrina stretching out, her eyes open. "How long was I out?"

"Not long I think," Lucario told her. "Though to be honest, I fell asleep for awhile too."

Korrina smiled, that was when she realized that she was lying right next to Lucario. Surprisingly, she didn't jump up, or try to cover it up, she just scooted over a bit. "So... anything else you want to show me today?"

Lucario chuckled. "Honestly, there's not much more I can show you." Korrina's habit of training alongside her Pokemon had really paid off once she figured out how to use her new powers correctly. She had been able to smash rocks as a human, and apparently, that strength had carried over.

"Well... that's good," Korrina said. "Though I'm still not entirely use to the aura thing."

"It takes awhile," Lucario said with a shrug. "I didn't get it at first either, remember?"

Korrina smiled. "Oh, I remember," she paused. "Hey Lucario?... thanks for your help and... everything... I honestly don't know if I could've made it through this without you."

"It's no trouble," he said with a smile. "You're my best friend, you know I'd do anything to help you."

Korrina smiled. "You... you're my best friend too," she blushed softly. "I don't care if you are a Pokemon, you've been my friend for years, and that's all that really matters right?"

Lucario smiled at her. "Right," he said with a nod.

"Good," Korrina replied, still blushing. Before Lucario could respond, Korrina leaned forward and kissed him squarely on the cheek. After a moment of shock, she said. "I uh... I still want... _us_ to take things... slow... okay?"

Lucario blinked once, still shocked at what had just happened, then he smiled. "Of course," he said, gently nuzzling her cheek. "I promised I wouldn't push you into anything, and I meant it."

Korrina sighed and leaned against Lucario, who placed an arm around her shoulder, a contented smile on both their faces.


End file.
